Course Title

C C04: Basic Construction Materials

Course Coordinator

Dr. Nilesh A. Patil

(Ph.D., IIT Guwahati; M.Tech., COE Pune)
Assistant Professor Grade I
NICMAR Pune

UNIT – I
WALLING MATERIALS
Contents
 Introduction

 Basic Walling Materials

 Natural Stone

 Wall Bricks

 Wall Blocks

 Wall Plates

 Building Mortar

 References – For further reading

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Introduction
 Objective of this unit
► To study the various types of materials required for
masonry wall construction.
 Basic materials for wall construction
► Natural Stone
► Bricks
► Blocks
► Wall Plates
► Mortar

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Introduction
 Basic Factors for Walling Material Selection
► Initial cost of material
► Product durability
► Performance and aesthetics
► Environmental and sustainability impacts
► Easy availability

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Natural Stones
 Stone Formation & Basic Terms
► Rock :

• A large concreted mass of earthy or mineral matter

or broken pieces of such a mass.
► Stone :
• Quarried or smaller pieces of rock for a specified
function such as a building block
OR
► Natural stone:
• Obtained from rocks that constitute the earth’s
crust.

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Natural Stones
 Source & Use
► To chalk deposits (used to make rubble masonry),
pieces formed by weathering from the original deposit
► Partly trimmed pieces used widely for domestic
coursed or semi-coursed masonry
► Precisely cut blocks used to make ashlars stonework,
usually for prestige or heritage buildings.

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Geological Classification of Rocks
 Igneous:
► Formed by cooling and solidifying of the rock masses
from their molten magmatic condition of the material
of the earth. (e.g. Granite, Basalt)
 Sedimentary :
► Formed by a process of cementation of small
particles that result from the disintegration of rocks.
(e.g. Limestone, sandstone)
 Metamorphic:
► Formed by gradual changes in the structures of either
igneous or sedimentary rocks caused by heat, water,
pressure. (e.g. Marble, Slate)

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Physical Classification of Rocks
 Stratified Rocks:
► These rocks are having layered structure.
► They can be easily split along these planes.
► E.g. Sand stones, lime stones, slate etc.
 Un-stratified Rocks:
► These rocks are not stratified, but crystalline and
compact grains.
► They cannot be split in to thin slab.
► E.g. Granite, trap, marble etc.

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Commonly Used Building Stones
 Granite: Intrusive Igneous Rock
► Intrusive:crystallized slowly within the earth
► Granite is a strong, hard & non-porous rock
► Used for bridge piers, river walls, & dams.
► Polished granites are used as table tops, cladding for
columns and wall.
 Basalt: Extrusive Igneous Rock
► Extrusive:rapidly crystallized on the surface of earth
► It is hard & strong but it is porous & have fractures.
► Use for road metals, aggregates for concrete.
► Used for rubble masonry works for bridge
piers, river walls and dams

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Commonly Used Building Stones
 Limestone: Sedimentary rock
► It is used as a concrete aggregate
► Used in the production of cement & lime
 Marble: Metamorphosed limestone
► Harder than limestone
► Available in various colors
► Used for interior work (wall/column facing
 Slate: Metamorphosed clay
► The structure is fine grained.
► Used for flooring, interior or exterior
wall facing.

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Common Application for Selected Stones

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Characteristics of Stones
 Types of Stones – Performance Characteristics

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Requirements of Good Building Stones
 Strength:
► It should be able to resist the load coming on it.
► A minimum crushing strength of 3.5 N/mm2 for any
building block.
 Durability:
► It should be capable of resisting adverse effects of
natural forces like wind, rain & heat.
 Hardness:
► The stone used in floors and pavements should be
able to resist abrasive forces caused by movement of
men and materials over them.

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Requirements of Good Building Stones
 Toughness:
► Building stones should be tough enough to sustain
stresses developed due to vibrations.
 Porosity & Absorption:
► Building stone should not be porous.
► If it is porous rain water enters into the pour and
reacts with stone and crumbles it.
 Dressing:
► It should be easy to dress so that the cost of dressing
is reduced.

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Wall Bricks
 Brick - Definition & Concept
► A small rectangular block typically made of fired or
sun-dried clay, used in building.
► A brick is building material used to make walls,
pavements & other elements in masonry construction.
► A brick can be composed of clay-bearing soil, sand,
and lime.
► Two basic categories of bricks are fired and non-
fired bricks.

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Wall Bricks
 Types – According to manufacturing techniques
► Fired Bricks
• These are made by preheating, roasting, insulating and
cooling a raw brick in a kiln.
• Fired common bricks, Fired porous bricks, Fired hollow
bricks and Hollow blocks (simply called hollow bricks)
► Non-fired Bricks
• The bricks made not by roasting are called non-fired
bricks.
• Autoclaved lime-sand bricks, Fly ash bricks, Slag
bricks, and Carbonated lime bricks.

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Fired Bricks
 Fired Common Bricks
► These are common solid brick made by roasting clay,
shale, coal gangue or fly ash.
► The fired common brick is rectangular, and its
standard dimension is 240 mm x 115 mm x 53 mm.
► Based on different raw materials, the fired bricks
include
• fired clay bricks (symbol is N),
• fired shale bricks (Y),
• fired coal gangue bricks (M) and
• fired fly ash bricks (F).

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Fired Bricks
 Fired Common Bricks (Cont.)
► Applications:
► Fired common bricks can be used to build the interior
and exterior walls of buildings as well as columns,
arches and chimneys.
► The excellent bricks can be used for drywalls and
decorative walls.

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Fired Bricks
 Fired Porous and Fired Hollow Bricks
► In modern constructions, the development of high-rise
buildings requires producers to reduce the dead
weight of fired bricks
► E.g. fired porous, hollow bricks and hollow blocks
► Compared with fired common bricks, they have a
series of advantages when used:
• dead weight of walls can decrease by 30%-35%
• the efficiency can be improved by 40%
• the cost of mortar can be saved by about 20%
• the insulation & sound absorption of walls can be
improved.

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Fired Bricks
 Fired Porous Bricks
► A fired porous brick is a porous brick with bedding surfaces
(240 mm x 115mm)
► The size of pores - the round hole diameter < 22 mm
► The pores are perpendicular to the load face when used.
Because the strength is high, the fired porous bricks are
often used in the load-bearing parts of buildings.

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Fired Bricks
 Fired Hollow Bricks
► These bricks or blocks with pores on the end faces.
► The pores are large and not many, with the hole ratio more
than 30%.
► Because pores are big, the dead weight is light, and the
strength is low, the bricks are usually used in the non-
bearing parts.

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Wall Bricks – Properties & Applications
 Fired Bricks: Properties & Applications

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Non-Fired Bricks
 Autoclaved Lime-sand / Lime-sand Bricks
► An autoclaved lime-sand brick is made by mixing
ground quicklime or slaked lime power, natural sand
and water in a certain proportion;
► Then storing, pressure molding, autoclaving (by the
saturated steam with the temperature of 175-203°C
and the pressure of 0.8-1.6 MPa) and curing them.
► The dimensions of the solid lime-sand brick is the
same with the fired common brick.
► Lime-sand bricks should be stored for about a month
after being taken out from autoclaves.

Dr. N. A. Patil @ NICMAR Pune 23

Non-Fired Bricks
 Autoclaved Fly-Ash Bricks / Fly-Ash Bricks
► An autoclaved fly ash brick is a solid brick made by
mixing appropriate amount of gypsum and
aggregates into fly ash and lime, the raw materials,
► Then blank producing, pressure forming, and normal
or high pressure autoclaving or conserving them.
► The dimensions of the fly-ash brick is the same with
the fired common brick.
► Fly ash bricks can be used in walls and bases of
industrial and civil buildings.

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Wall Bricks – Properties & Applications
 Non-Fired Bricks: Properties & Applications

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Wall Blocks
 Basics
► Blocks are the artificial materials used for masonry,
bigger than wall bricks.
► Based on the dimensions, blocks can be divided into:
• large-sized blocks (higher than 980 mm),
• middle-sized blocks (380-98Omm high) and
• small-sized blocks (higher than 115mm and lower than
380mm).
► The height of a block is usually not more than its
length or 6 times of its breadth, and
► The length is no more than 3 times of its breadth.

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Wall Blocks
 Various Classifications
 By purposes:
► There are load-bearing blocks and non-load-bearing
blocks.
 By pores:
► There are solid blocks (with no pores) and hollow
blocks (with pores).
 By materials:
► There are silicate blocks, light-weight aggregate
concrete blocks, aerated concrete blocks, and
concrete blocks.

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Wall Blocks – Properties & Applications

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Wall Blocks – Properties & Applications

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Wall Plates
 Basics
► Various lightweight and composite wall plates and
lightweight roof boards are flourishing, with the reform
of architectural structure system and the development
of multi-functional large-bay structures.
► There are many kinds of wall and roof plywood in
China, recently.
► Various Types:
• Cement Wall Plates
• Gypsum Wall Boards
• Plant Fiber Boards
• Composite Wallboards

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Wall Plates
 Cement Wall Plates
► The cement wall plate has good mechanical property and
durability.
► They can be used for the external layers in bearing walls,
outer walls and composite walls.
► The disadvantages are the large apparent density and low
tensile strength.
► Sub-types:
• Pre-stressed Concrete Hollow Wallboards
• GRC (Glass Reinforce Concrete) Hollow Lightweight
Wallboards
• Fiber-reinforced Cement Board
• Cement Wood Boards

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Wall Plates
 Pre-Stressed Concrete Hollow Wallboards
► It is made up with three layers, include
insulating layer, decorative layer and
waterproof layer.
► The length of wallboards is 1000-1900mm;
the width is 600-1200mm; and the total
thickness is 200-480mm.
► They can be used as the load-bearing or non-
load-bearing external wallboards, internal wall
boards, roof boards and balcony boards.

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Wall Plates
 GRC Hollow Lightweight Wallboards
► This kind of boards is made by mixing low alkali cement
(the cementing material), alkali-resistant glass fiber
(the reinforcing material) and expanded perlite (or slag
or fly ash) with foaming agent and waterproof agent.
► The length is 3000mm, the breadth is 600mm, and the
thickness is 60mm, 90mm and 120mm.
► These are light weight (35kg/m2) for 60 mm thickness.
► It has good insulation and sound proof properties.
► They can be used in the inner partitions and the outer
layers of composite walls of civil and industrial buildings.

Dr. N. A. Patil @ NICMAR Pune 33

Wall Plates
 Fiber-reinforced Cement Board
► The board is a kind of thin board made by mixing low
alkali cement and alkali-resistant glass fiber with
water, dredging them with cylinder mould, and then
forming, pressing, and conserving them.
► The length is 1200-3000mm, the width is 800-900mm,
and the thickness is 4mm, 5mm, 6mm or 8mm.
► The boards have light weight, high strength, moisture-
proof and fire-proof properties.
► Used in the composite outer walls and inner partitions
of various buildings, especially the moisture-proof and
fire-proof walls of high-rise buildings.
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Wall Plates
 Cement Wood Boards
► The board is a kind of building thin board made by
slicing wood trash into uniform wood wool by
machines, mixing them with cement and water glass,
shaping, cold pressing, curing, and drying them.
► They have light dead weight, high strength, good
fireproof, waterproof, insulating, and soundproof
properties, and are easy to be processed (like
sawing, drilling, nailing, and decoration).
► They are mainly used as inner and outer wall boards,
ceiling boards, and cupboards.

Dr. N. A. Patil @ NICMAR Pune 35

Wall Plates
 Gypsum Wall Boards
► Gypsum products have many advantages.
► And they take a big proportion of lightweight wall
materials.
► Types:
• Paper Gypsum Boards
• Gypsum Fiber Boards
• Gypsum Hollow Boards

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Wall Plates
 Paper Gypsum Boards
► Paper gypsum board is made by bonding building gypsum,
a certain amount of reinforcing fibers and waterproof,
fireproof and moisture-proof agents.
► These are prepared in various varieties:
• Common board
• Waterproof board
• Fireproof board
► The boards have light weight, good insulating, sound
proof, fire resistance, and moisture-proof.
► Used as inner partition for washroom and bathroom.

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Wall Plates
 Paper Gypsum Boards (Cont.)
► Specifications

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Wall Plates
 Gypsum Fiber Boards
► The board is the paperless gypsum board taking fiber
reinforced gypsum as the base.
► The inorganic fibers or organic fibers are often used
as the reinforcing materials.
► Light weight, high strength, fireproof and soundproof
properties as well as high toughness.
► Specification and application are the same with paper
gypsum boards.

Dr. N. A. Patil @ NICMAR Pune 39

Wall Plates
 Gypsum Hollow Boards
► Similar with those of cement concrete hollow slabs.
► A gypsum hollow slab is made by gypsum (the
cementing material) with lightweight aggregates (such
expanded vermiculite) and modified materials (like,
slag, fly ash, lime, and addictives).
► The length is 2500-3000mm, the breadth is 500-
600mm, and the thickness is 60-90mm.
► The slabs can be used for the non-load-bearing inner
partition walls of various building.

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Wall Plates
 Plant Fiber Boards
► These boards are prepared by treating a agricultural
wastes (such as straw, wheat straw, maize stalk).
► Early in 1930, Swedes used 25kg straw to produce boards
instead of 250 pieces of clay bricks.
► China, as a big agricultural country, has rich resources &
should develop and promote these products.
► Various Types:
• Straw (Wheat) Board
• Rice Hull Board
• Bagasse (Sugarcane Stem) Board
► They can be used for the non-load-bearing inner partitions,
and the inner boards of composite out walls.

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Wall Plates – Composite Wallboards

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Building Mortar
 Definition
► Building mortar is a building material formed by
mixing cementing materials, fine aggregates, mixtures
and water in an appropriate proportion.
► The main difference between mortar and concrete is
that there is no coarse aggregate in the composition
of mortar.
► Thus, building mortar is also called fine aggregate
concrete.

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Building Mortar
 Classification
► According to different purposes,
• The building mortar can be classified into masonry mortar,
surface mortar (ordinary surface mortar, waterproof mortar,
decorative mortar), and special mortar (such as heat-
insulated mortar, corrosion-resistant mortar, and sound-
absorbing mortar).
► Based on different cementing materials,
• Building mortar can be divided into cement mortar, lime
mortar, gypsum mortar, mixed mortar and polymer cement
mortar.
• The commonly used mixed mortar includes cement lime
mortar, cement clay mortar and lime clay mortar.

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Building Mortar
 Use / Application – In following Areas
► In structural engineering:
• it binds stone, brick, blocks together and fills the
gaps in brick walls and the joints in large wall
panels and various components.
► In decorative projects:
• it is used to plaster brick walls, floors, & structural
beams and columns; and
• it is also used to inlay natural stone, artificial stone,
ceramic tiles and mosaic tiles.

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Building Mortar
 Composition of Mortar
► Cementing Material
► Fine Aggregates
► Water
► Mixtures and Additives

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Building Mortar
 Composition of Mortar (Cont.)
► Cementing Material:
• The major cementing material in building mortar is cement,
including ordinary cement, furnace-slag cement, masonry
cement and fly-ash cement.
• Strength grades of cement (compressive strength value of 28d,
in MPa) should be 4-5 times of the strength grades of mortar.
• Because the strength grades of mortar are not high, the cement
in medium & low strength grades can satisfy the requirements.
• The strength grades of the cement used in cement mortar
should not be more than 32.5.
• Lime, gypsum and clay can also be used as the cementing
materials.

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Building Mortar
 Composition of Mortar (Cont.)
► Fine Aggregate:
• Sand is the find aggregate for building mortar.
• It should be natural or artificial sand
• Maximum particle diameter is not more than 2.5 mm for
the mortar used in brickwork.
• For the sake of mortar quality, clean sand should be
selected.
• Building industry standard, that the mud content of sand
should not be more than 5%.

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Building Mortar
 Composition of Mortar (Cont.)
► Water:
• The Clean water without harmful impurities should be
adopted to mix mortar, generally the same as the water
requirement for concrete.
► Admixtures and Additives:
• In order to improve the workability of mortar and save
cement, some inorganic fine mixtures, such as lime
paste, clay paste, and fly ash, can be added to mortar.
• Sometimes, micro foam agent can be added to improve
the workability of mortar.

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References (For Further Reading)
 Books
► Claisse, P. A. (2015). Civil engineering materials. Butterworth-Heinemann.
► Fleming, E. (2009). Construction Technology: an illustrated introduction.
John Wiley & Sons.
► Domone, P. & Illston, J. (2002). Construction materials: their nature and
behaviour. CRC Press.
► Jackson, N. & Dhir, R. K. (1996). Civil engineering materials. Palgrave.
► Zhang, H. (2011). Building materials in civil engineering. Woodhead
Publishing Limited.
 Papers for Case Study
► Hamilton-MacLaren, F. (2013). ‘Alternative, more sustainable, wall
construction techniques than brick and block, for new housing in England
and Wales’, Ph. D. Thesis of Loughborough University.

Dr. N. A. Patil @ NICMAR Pune 50

 Any Questions?

Thank You For Your Attention

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