This document discusses bricks and their properties. It begins with an introduction to bricks, noting they are one of the oldest construction materials due to their low cost, durability, and ease of use. The manufacturing process of bricks is then outlined, including preparation, moulding, drying, and burning. Various types of bricks are described based on their quality. The document also discusses the uses, characteristics, and testing of bricks. In particular, it focuses on the physical, mechanical, thermal, and insulation properties of bricks, noting factors like strength, absorption, and efflorescence.

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2. Bricks and its Properties
Presented By:
Aftab Ali
Dated 12-05-2023
TSGTRAININGCENTRENKLPLAHORE
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Presentation Outline/content
• Introduction of Bricks
• Requirement of Bricks
• Manufacturing of Bricks
• Types of Bricks
• Uses of Bricks
• Characteristic/ Properties of Bricks
• Quality Tests of Bricks

4. Introduction of brick
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 One of the oldest construction material.
 Most popular and leading construction material with respect to other
materials.
Reason:
 Low Cost
 Durable
 Light weight
 Easy to work
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Manufacturing Process of Bricks
Preparation
Moulding
Drying
Burning
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7. Preparation
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8. Moulding
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 Steel or wooden moulds
 Open both at top and bottom
 Prepared according to size of brick
 Clay mix filled in the mould, leveled and excess
quantity is removed
 Mould is lifted up and the procedure is repeated
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10. Drying
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 Moulded bricks are stacked in layers
 Dried for about 6 weeks (depending on weather
conditions)
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12. Burning
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 Clamps or Kilns are used to burn.
 Stacked and burnt at about 800 C using coal,
firewood Burning imparts strength and hardness.
 It should be properly burnt
 Over-burnt leads to brittleness.
 Under-burnt leads to softness and hence less
load carrying capacity.
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13. Burning
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14. Uses
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 Walls, Bridges, Dams and Culverts
 Pavements, curbs Partitions and roads
 Fire bricks used for fire resisting structures
 Perforated and hollow bricks for heat insulation
 Compound walls, Columns, Stairs and Arches
 Broken pieces for weathering courses
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16. Classification
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 First Class Bricks
 Second Class Bricks
 Third Class Bricks
 Fourth Class Bricks
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17. First Class Bricks
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 Smooth and rectangular
 Parallel, sharp and straight edges
 Thoroughly burnt with deep red color
 Uniform Texture
 Water absorption 12% to 15% of its dry weight
 Metallic or ringing sound by striking
 Crushing strength not less than 10.5N/mm2
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18. second Class Bricks
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 Small cracks are allowed
 Water absorption 16% to 20%
 Crushing strength not less than 7N/mm2
 USES: All masonry work
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19. Third Class Bricks
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 Under burnt
 Soft and light
 Dull sound
 Water absorption is 25%
 USES: Temporary structures
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20. Fourth Class Bricks
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 Over burnt
 Bad shape and size
 Brittle
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22. Brick Properties
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The properties of bricks are totally depend on
manufacturing process and type of clay used.
 Physical Property
 Chemical Property
 Thermal Property
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23. Properties
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 Size
 Color
 Shape
 Strength
Physical Properties Mechanical Properties Thermal Properties
 Compressive Strength
 Flexural Strength
 Absorption Value
 Efflorescence
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24. Physical Properties
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Shape:
 Standard shape truly rectangular
 Sharp and true right angled corners
 Surface of brick regular and even
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PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Size:
 Varies from country to country even place to place
 Standard size 19cm x 9cm x 9cm
 Pakistan uses 22c x 10.5cm x 7cm (9’’x4.5’’x3’’)
 20cm x 10cm x 10cm (including mortar)
 3 to 3.5kg
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PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Color:
 Uniform and bright. Most common color falls under
the red color
 Varies from dark red to light red color
 Dark red color indicates over burning and yellow color
indicates under burning.
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PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Strength:
 Depends upon the type of clay used and method of
moulding and burning.
 Varies from 1600kg/m3 to 1900kg/m3.
 A single brick (19cm x 9cm x 9cm) weight 3.2 to 3.5kg
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MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
Compressive Strength:
 Most important property of bricks because they are
to be used in load bearing walls.
 It depends on the composition of clay and degree of
burning.
 Varies from 35kg/cm2 to 200kg/cm2
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MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
Flexure Strength:
 Bricks are often used in situation where bending loads are
likely to develop in building. So strength is required to take
transverse loads.
 It should not be less than 10kg/cm2 for common building.
 It should be more than 20kg/cm2 for best grade bricks.
 Good building bricks – shearing strength 50-70kg/cm2
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INSULATION PROPERTIES
 Ideal brick should provide adequate insulation against heat,
cold and noise
 The heat and sound conductivity of brick varies greatly with
their density and porosity.
 Very dense and heavy brick conduct heat and sound at a
higher rate. So they have poor and thermal and sound
insulation qualities.
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THERMAL PROPERTIES
Absorption value:
 Related to porosity of the brick
 For ordinary bricks not greater than 25%
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THERMAL PROPERTIES
Efflorescence:
 A powder form of salts which appears on the
Surface of brick and mortar.
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33. Testing of Burnt Clay Bricks
 Test for Compressive strength
 Water Absorption Test
 Efflorescence Test
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34. 1-Compressive strength testing of the Brick
 Remove unevenness observed in the bed faces to provide two smooth and parallel
faces by grinding. Immerse in water at room temperature for 24 hours. Remove the
specimen and drain out any surplus moisture at room temperature.
 Fill the frog ( where provided ) and all voids in the bed face flush with cement
mortar.
 Compressive Strength( Avg)= load at failure/ Bed area (P/A) in Psi
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36. 2- Water Absorption Test
 24 hr. immersion cold water Test:
 Dry sample is put in the oven at 105 °C to 115 °C for 24 hours and after cooling at
room temperature its weight is recorded as W1
 Immerse completely dried specimen in clean water at a temperature of 27 + 2 °C
for 24 hours.
 Remove the specimen and wipe out any traces of water with a damp cloth and
weigh the specimen as W2
 Complete the weighing in 3 minutes after the specimen has been removed from
water.
 Water Absorption (%)= (W2-W1) / W1
 Water absorption of brick of class up to 12.5 should not exceed 20% and 15% for
higher class.
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37. 3- Efflorescence Test
 A shallow bottom dish containing sufficient distilled water to completely saturate
the specimens. The dish shall be made of glass, porcelain or glazed stoneware
and of size 180 mm X 180mm X 40 mm depth.
 Place the brick on end immersed about 25mm
 Test is performed in well ventilated room at 20 to 30 °C
 Let the sample to absorb all the water or evaporated and sample is dried
 Add the same quantity of water and dried as before.
 Observe the efflorescence after 2nd evaporation cycle and classified as follows
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38. Observation of efflorescence
 Nil : When there is no white patch or sign of efflorescence
 Slight: when the effected area is not more than 10%
 Moderate: when the deposit is more than slight and less than 50%
 Heavy: more than 50% ,the deposit however does not powder and flake of the
surface
 Serious: when deposit is heavy along with powdering and flaking of the surface
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41. Some field test Of Bricks
 Hardness test: In this test, a scratch is made on a brick surface with a hard thing. If that
doesn’t leave any impression on brick then that is good quality brick.
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Some field test Of Bricks
 Size, shape and color test: In this test randomly collected 20 bricks are staked along
lengthwise, width wise and height wise and then those are measured to know the variation of
sizes as per standard .Bricks are closely viewed to check if its edges are sharp and straight and
uniform in shape. A good quality brick should have bright and uniform color throughout.

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Some field test Of Bricks
 Soundness test: In this test two bricks are held by both hands and struck with one another. If
the bricks give clear metallic ringing sound and don’t break then those are good quality bricks.

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Some field test Of Bricks
 Structure test: In this test, a brick is broken or a broken brick is collected and closely
observed. If there are any flows, cracks or holes present on that broken face then that isn’t
good quality brick.

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