The document provides information about bricks, including their history, manufacturing process, properties, uses, and advantages. It acknowledges those who helped with an assignment related to bricks. Key points: - Bricks date back 7,000 years and were originally sun-dried mud bricks, while fired bricks became more common for permanent buildings. - Modern bricks are made through processes like soft mud, dry press, and extruded and can be made from clay or other materials. They go through preparation, moulding, drying, and burning. - Bricks are classified based on their quality and used widely in construction for walls, floors, and decoratively due to their strength, fire resistance, and other beneficial properties

1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
With due respect we would like to thank the persons that
have helped us during this Assignment. Specially we
would like to thank Sir Sohail Mustafa sb, lecturer
Institute of Geology University of Azad Jammuand
Kashmir Muzaffarabad Who give us the task about this
assignment.

2. TABLE OF CONTENT
Sr No Topic Page No
1 Introduction
History definition
2 Manufacturing process
3 Bricks format
4 Types of bricks
5 Properties of bricks
6 Uses of bricks
7 Advantages of bricks
8 Conclusion
9 References

3. History
Bricks are one of the oldest known building materials dating back to 7000BC where they were
first found in southern Turkey and around Jericho. The first bricks were sun dried mud bricks.
Fired bricks were found to be more resistant to harsher weather conditions, which made them
a much more reliable brick for use in permanent buildings, where mud bricks would not have
been sufficient.
Bricks now
Bricks are more commonly used in the construction of buildings than any other material except
wood. Brick and terracotta architecture is dominant within its field and a great industry has
developed and invested in the manufacture of many different types of bricks of all shapes and
colors. With modern machinery, earth moving equipment, powerful electric motors and
modern tunnel kilns, making bricks has become much more productive and efficient. Bricks can
be made from variety of materials the most common being clay but also calcium silicate and
concrete. With clay bricks being the more popular, they are now manufactured using three
processes soft mud, dry press and extruded. Also during 2007 the new ‘fly ash’ brick was
created using the by-products from coal power plants.

4. How bricks are made
The traditional way
Bricks are made from wetting clay which you press it into a mould and then bake the clay in an
oven until it is hard.
 Raw Materials
Natural clay minerals, including kaolin and shale, make up the main body of brick. Small
amounts of manganese, barium, and other additives are blended with the clay to
produce different shades, and barium carbonate is used to improve brick's chemical
resistance to the elements. Many other additives have been used in brick.
 A wide variety of coating materials and methods are used to produce brick of a certain
color or surface texture. Sometimes a flux or frit (a glass containing colorants) is added
to produce surface textures..Other materials including graded fired and unfired brick,
nepheline syenite, and graded aggregate can be used as well.

5. The Manufacturing
Process
 Preparation of brick earth
 Moulding of bricks
 Drying of bricks
 Burning of bricks
Preparation of brick earth:
Removal of loose soil.
The top layer of the loose soil about 30 cm depth contains a lot of impurities
like organic matter and hence it should be taken out and thrown away.
Digging, spreading and cleaning.
The earth is then dug out from the ground. This earth is spread into heaps
about 50 to 150 cm height.
Weathering.
The earth is then exposed to atmosphere for softening. The period may be Of
few weeks to a season.
Blending and tempering.
The clay is then mixed with suitable ingredients. It is carried out by taking a
small portion of clay every time and by turning it up and down in vertical
direction

6. MOULDING:
Hand moulding
When moulding is done with hand it is called hand moulding.
A wooden rectangular mould made in the shape of a brick is normally used for this purpose.
Machine moulding
The clay is placed in the machine; it comes out through the opening under
pressure.
It is cut to bricks by steel wires fixed into frames.
These bricks are also called wire cut bricks.

7. Manufacturing
(HAND MOULDING)

8. DRYING OF BRICKS:
Wet brick from molding or cutting machines contain 7 to 30 percent
moisture, depending upon the
forming method.
Before the firing process begins, most of this water is evaporated in
dryer chambers at
temperatures ranging from about 100 ºF to 400 ºF (38 ºC to 204 ºC).
The extent of drying time, which varies with different clays, usually is
between 24 to 48 hours.
Heat and humidity must be carefully regulated to avoid cracking in the
brick.
BURNING OF BRICKS:
INTERMITTENT KILN - CLAMP, SCOVE & SCOTCH
Highly inefficient & labour-intensive.
Use coal + scavenged fuels
Most common, most primitive, most polluting
Temporary Structures

9. Brick format
 The format of brick is 90mm x 90mm x 90mm and 190mm x190mm x 190mm.
 With mortar joints, the size of these bricks are taken as 200mm x 100mm x 100mm and
200 mm x 100 mm x 50 mm.
 The most common brick size is the ‘Imperial Brick’, which measures 222mm long x
106mm wide x 73mm high with a mass of between 3.0kg
 There are also other sizes and formats available.
Types of bricks
 Concrete Bricks
These bricks have either pale green or gray color. These are prepared from a small, dry
aggregate concrete which is formed in steel molds by using vibration and compaction.
The entire manufacturing process is incurred either in an egg Layer or static machine.
Rather than firing, the curing process is used to convert the blocks thus prepared into
bricks under low pressure steam.
 High Alumina Bricks
High alumina bricks from 50% upto 90% Alumina are made with various selected
superior grade aggregates to meet the various service conditions of various types of
furnaces like laddie, blast furnace, cement and sponge iron Rotary Kiln, calciner , etc.,
The 90% alumina dense bricks are manufactured from tabular alumina purer micro fine
alumina and other special type raw material and fired in ultra high temperature kiln at
1650-1700BC.
 Fire Brick
A fire brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction and sized to be
layed with one hand using mortar. Bricks may be made from type of material .These are
built primarily to withstand high heat and also find applications in extreme mechanical,
chemical, or thermal stresses.
 Light Weight Hollow Blocks
This blocks are used in construction of houses in earthquake prone areas. These bricks
are made of fly ash, cement, lime, gypsum, stone dust etc. Available in different sizes.

10. Hollow concrete blocks is used as substitute for conventional bricks or stones used in
construction of buildings. And the blocks' importmant feature

11. Properties of bricks
Aesthetic
Bricks offer natural and a variety of colors, including various textures
Strength
Bricks offer excellent high compressive strength.
Porosity
The porosity of bricks in attributed to its fine capillaries. The ability to release and absorb
moisture is one of the most important and useful properties of bricks, regulating
temperatures and humidity inside structures.
Fire Resistance
When prepared properly a brick structure can give a fire protection maximum rating of 6
hours
Sound Insulation
The brick sound insulation is normally 45 decibels for a 4.5 inches brick thickness and 50
decibels for a nine inch thick brick.
Insulation
Bricks can exhibit above normal thermal insulation when compared to other building
materials. Bricks can help regulate and maintain constant interior temperatures of a
structure due to their ability to absorb and slowly release heat. This way bricks can produce
significant energy savings, more than 30% of energy saving, when compared to wood.
Wear
A brick is so strong, that its molecular composition provides excellent wear resistance.
Efflorescence
Efflorescence forms on concrete structures and surfaces when soluble salts dissolved in
water are deposited and accumulated on surfaces forming a visible scum.
Classification

12. The bricks used in construction are classifiedas:
 First class bricks
 Second class bricks
 Third class bricks
 Fourth class bricks
FIRST CLASS BRICKS:
 Made of good earth which is free from saline deposits and are sand molded.
 Burnt thoroughly without being vitrified and have deep red, cherry and copper color.
 Regular and uniform in shape and size with sharp and square edges and parallel faces.
 Must be homogeneous in texture and emit a clear ringing sound on being struck
together.
 Free from flaws, cracks, chops, stones and lime.
 Have a minimum crushing strength of 105 kg per sq. cm when tested according to the
test
SECOND CLASS BRICKS:
 They shall be well burnt or slightly over burnt.
 They must give clear ringing sound when struck.
 The may have slight irregularities in size, shape and color.
 The minimum crushing strength of second class brick should be 70 kg per sq cm

13. THIRD CLASS BRICKS:
 These bricks are slightly under burnt or over burnt.
 They are not uniform in shape, size and edges.
 They shall not observe water more than 25% of their own dry weight after 24 hours,
immersion in cold water.
 They have some signs of efflorescence
FOURTH CLASS BRICKS:
 These are over burnt bricks which are dark in color and are irregular in size and shape.
 These are used as aggregate in concrete and for flooring.
 Over burnt bricks are not used for building construction.
Uses.
 Structural uses: such as foundations walls and floors.
 Decorative/ornamental uses: May be cast to from moldings and
other decorative features may be carved also may be used in a variety of colors,
textures, bonds and joints.
 May be concealed by other finish materials such as stucco, plaster or paint, or may be
exposed both on the interior and exterior.
 Bricks are also used in the metallurgy and glass industries for lining furnaces.
 They have various uses, especially refractory bricks such as silica, magnesia,
chamotte and neutral (chromo magnesite) refractory bricks. This type of brick must
have good thermal shock resistance, under load, high melting point, and satisfactory
porosity.
 Bricks are used for building and pavement. Earlier brick pavement was found incapable
of withstanding heavy traffic, but it is coming back into use as a method of traffic
calming or as a decorative surface in pedestrian.

14. Advantages
 The use of materials such as brick and stone can increase the thermal mass of building,
giving increased comfort in the heat of summer and cold of winter and can be ideal
for passive solar applications.
 Brick typically will not require painting and so can provide a structure with reduced life
cycle costs, although sealing appropriately will reduce potential spalling due to
frost damage. Concrete block of the non-decorative variety generally
is painted or stuccoes if exposed.
 The appearance especially when well crafted, can impart an impression of solidity and
permanence.
 Brick is very heat resistant material and thus will provide good fire protection.
 Being much more resistant to cold and moist weather conditions, brick enabled the
construction of permanent buildings in regions where the harsher climate precluded the
use of mud bricks.

15. Conclusion

16. References:
Book: Engineering and Construction
by
Photos
www.google.com/bricks
www.wikipedia.com/bricks