CONST. MTRL & TESTING: BRICKS

Bricks are more used these days for face works unlike when they were used to build massive walls when concrete was yet to be popularized. However, there are still places which prefer using bricks over concrete. This may depend on the availability of the resources and cost.

courtesy of TTV Hitech Chambers and Earth Movers

The word "brick" signifies earth bricks, but there are also different materials making bricks such as fly ash bricks. Clay is the main ingredient in making bricks and it takes a long process to manufacture this construction material.

Good quality clay should be used free from organic matter and pebbles. More ingredients are added to the blending of clay like iron oxide, lime, silica and others. These ingredients help to improve the qualities of clay to be made into sturdy bricks.

Click here for PDF Notes on Bricks

Moulding of bricks can be done in two ways - ground and table.

1. Ground moulding uses the ground as the platform when clay is moulded into bricks.Most of the time, this method employs handmade bricks.

courtesy of ThoughtCo

2. Table moulding is equipped with a platform which looks like a table about 2m x 1m. machine moulding with table method is used for huge quantities. machine moulding is helpful for moulding hard and string clay.

Bricks can be manufactured by air drying or burning, although the latter process is more recommended. There are different kinds of kilns used to burn bricks. A kiln is a large oven used to burn bricks.

1. Intermittent kilns operate by being loaded, fired, cooled, and unloaded.
2. Continuous kilns work by loading, firing, cooling and unloading just the same by in a more simultaneous manner.