Lime brick

Brick is a common name for several different in composition and properties, methods of manufacturing small pieces of materials, combined with each other by the form and method of use in construction. Being one of the most ancient building materials, brick is used throughout the history of human development. Silicate bricks are a relatively new type of building material.

Its production became possible only thanks to the emergence of new technologies. In comparison with ceramic, it requires less energy for production, less demanding on the quality of raw materials, it is easier to achieve the required characteristics when manufacturing it, it is easier to organize mass production with its application.

What is silica brick?

The term "building silicate brick" means the following: it is a non-burnt small piece made in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped, used for laying wall structures. Standard silicate brick is obtained by pressing, autoclaved hardening from a moist mixture of calc-sand or calc-silicous binder.

As a part of the mixture for the production of silica brick there are:

• building lime;
• sand;
• is a white sludge;
• ash;
• fine-grained ash and slag mixture;
• slag;
• alkali-resistant pigments;
• water.

The presence of ash and slag can completely or partially replace the presence of quartz sand in the composition of silica sand, which leads to a decrease in the density of the brick, as well as to improve its thermal insulation and strength characteristics. In addition, this reduces the amount of binder required by 35-40%, reduces the time of autoclave bricks by 15-20%, and reduces the cost of the finished product.

Varieties of material

The components that make up the composition determine the properties and characteristics of the varieties of bricks. This determines the existence of the following types:

• calcareous sand brick - the most commonly used type of silicate brick, which consists of lime 7-10%, quartz sand 90-93%;
• Lime-ash brick consists of 75-80% ash, 20-25% lime;
• lime-slag brick is made by mixing lightweight porous slag 88-97% with lime 3-12%.

According to the design features, silicate bricks manufacturers produce:

• solid;
• hollow.

The current standards allow the production of silicate bricks of various sizes, voidness and the location of directly cavities, shapes, according to the wishes of the customer. In this case, an obligatory condition is compliance with the GOST standard requirements concerning strength characteristics, thermal conductivity and frost resistance of products.

According to the purpose( application in the masonry), the silicate brick is divided into:

• private - is subsequently hidden under a layer of finishing material;
• front( facing) - used for facing the walls of buildings.

Sand-lime brick can be produced:

• unpainted( white silicate brick, light gray);
• colored( with the addition of a coloring pigment of the appropriate shade during the preparation of the mixture or coated with paint during the solidification period).

Dimensions and weight of silicate brick

It has the following dimensions and weights:

• 250 × 120 × 65 mm;3,2-3,7 kg( single);
• 250 × 120 × 88 mm;3.7-5 kg ​​(thickened, called one-and-a-half or modular);
• 250 × 120 × 138 mm;5.4 kg( double).

Technical data of silicate brick

1. Strength: M75 - M300 depends on:

• strength strength at compression: 75 - 300 kgf / cm²;
• strength limit for bending: 16 - 40( solid brick), and 8 - 24 kgf / cm²( hollow one-and-a-half).

Density: 1300 - 1900 kg / m³.

Thermal conductivity:

• hollow - 0.66 W /( m · ° C);
• solid - 0.7 W /( m · ° C).

Frost resistance indexes: 15-100 cycles defines the marking: F15, F25, F35, F50, F75, F100( facing brick not less than F25).

Water absorption: 6-16%.

The vapor permeability index: 0.11 mg /( m * h * Pa).

Fire resistance: Group NG( non-flammable).

Sound insulation: minimum 64 dB.

Advantages of

The advantages of silicate are:

• excellent sound-absorbing qualities provide the possibility of constructing partitions only half a brick. This is enough to provide the required sound insulation;
• good frost resistance;
• great strength, allowing to erect buildings of large number of storeys;
• a sufficient number of color solutions and sizes, giving the opportunity to implement various architectural solutions.

Disadvantages of

Comparing with ceramic, the disadvantages of silica brick include: heavier weight, lower water resistance and fire resistance characteristics.

Scope of application

Silicate brick is successfully used: for erecting low-rise, high-rise buildings, structures, with the exception of underground parts of buildings and various structures subject to increased influence of high temperatures and constant humidity. Photo and video reviews reveal all possible uses of silicate bricks, ways of laying it. Positive feedback on the use in the construction of sand-lime bricks makes it possible to assert that this is one of the main modern structural materials.

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