brick formation

1. Manufacturing Bricks

2. Bricks
• A brick is a block, or a single unit of
a ceramic material used
in masonry construction.
• Bricks are typically produced in common
or standard sizes in bulk quantities.
• It is one of the longest lasting and
strongest building materials used
throughout history.

3. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN
MASONRY
• It is the simplest of all the building
techniques.
 Sun-dried bricks - With the availability of fire
became burnt bricks
 Invention of kilns made mass production of
bricks easy
 Limestone turned into lime mortar replaced
mud as mortar

4. Masonry History
 Rich History
 Through the mid-1800s
– Primary Building Materials
 Late 1800s
– New Products Developed
– Ended Masonry’s Dominance

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Brick Masonry - Uniqueness
 Fire Resistance
 Size
 Durability

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7. MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS FROM CLAY
• Constituents: Brick clays are produced by
blending together various clays (surface clays,
shales, and fire clays) to produce the desired
chemical composition and physical properties.

8. STEPS FOR BRICK FORMATION
• Clay Preparation
• Molding
• Drying
• Firing

9. Clay Preparation
• Clay preparation methods may have to
accommodate the physical characteristics of
the raw material.
• Special provision may have to be made to deal
with certain impurities.
• Preparation consists of transforming the clay
rock into plastic moldable material.

10. Molding
• Molding utilizes a drier clay mix, formed into
a wedge and thrown into a mold.
• A bow cutter will be used to smooth the top
of the brick, and the form will can be released
because of a hinged bottom.

11. Drying
• Water was added during clay preparation to
increase workability of the mixture, but in drying
it is removed for several reasons.
• First, there will be less cracking in fired bricks
with less water content.
• Second, additional fuel is needed, beyond what is
used for firing, to dry the bricks in the kiln.
• Proper drying of bricks will involved rotating the
bricks for different exposures to ensure even
drying rates.

12. Firing
• Bricks are burnt either in a periodic kiln or a
continuous tunnel kiln.
• Stages of burning: Water-smoking and
dehydration (drives off the remaining water
from clay at 40o to 150o C).
• Temperature of furnace rises to 1000o to
1300o C - Clay transformed to a ceramic
material -

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Brick Masonry - Sizes and Shapes
 No standard size
 Normal coursing - 3 bricks = 8”
 Larger sizes
 Custom Shapes & Colors

14.  No single standard size available - Size varies
 Modular Brick: 3 1/2” x 7 1/2” x 2 1/4” (Actual size)
 Standard Brick : 3 1/2” x 8” x 2 1/4”
 Engineer Modular : 3 1/2” x 7 1/2” x 2 3/4”
 Engineer Standard : 3 1/2” x 8” x 2 3/4”
 Close Modular : 3 1/2” x 7 1/2” x 3 1/4”
 Roman : 3 1/2” x 11 1/2” x 1 5/8”
 Norman : 3 1/2” x 11 1/2” x 1 5/8”
 Brick may be solid, cored, hollow or frogged - This allows even drying of bricks
 Custom-shaped bricks are often required for building for providing special
details
SIZES, GRADES AND TYPES OF BRICKS

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Brick Bonds
 Structural Bonds
 Cavity (Veneer) Walls
– Running bond
– Stacked bond

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