Different types of bricks

A.
There are generally three types of bricks - clay, fly ash and concrete. Clay bricks can be further subdivided into general clay bricks and fire proof clay bricks. The fire proof clay bricks are called firebricks. The firebricks are further divided into Heavy Dense Fire Clay Bricks and Insulating Fire Bricks.

Here, the two (2) other types of commonly used bricks other than clay bricks are 'Fly Ash Brick' (FAB) and 'Concrete Brick'. Concrete Bricks are further named 'Autoclaved Aerated Concrete' (AAC) if produced as lightweight bricks.

Fly Ash Brick (FAB)

Fly ash brick (FAB) is a building material, specifically masonry units, containing class C fly ash and water. Compressed at 28 MPa (272 atm) and cured for 24 hours in a 66 °C steam bath, then toughened with an air entrainment agent, the bricks last for more than 100 freeze-thaw cycles.

Owing to the high concentration of calcium oxide in class C fly ash, the brick is described as "self-cementing". The manufacturing method saves energy, reduces mercury pollution, and costs 20% less than traditional clay brick manufacturing.

Fly ash bricks are lighter than clay bricks.

AAC (Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) was invented in the mid-1920s by the Swedish architect and inventor Johan Axel Eriksson. AAC is one of the major achievements of the 20th century in the field of construction. It is a lightweight, precast building material that simultaneously provides structure, insulation, and fire and mold resistance. AAC Blocks is a unique and excellent type of building materials due to its superb heat, fire and sound resistance. AAC block is lightweight and offers ultimate workability, flexibility and durability.

Main ingredients include fly ash, water, quicklime, cement, aluminum powder and gypsum. The block hardness is being achieved by cement strength, and instant curing mechanism by autoclaving. Gypsum acts as a long term strength gainer. The chemical reaction due to the aluminum paste provides AAC its distinct porous structure, lightness, and insulation properties, completely different compared to other lightweight concrete materials. The finished product is a 2.5 times lighter Block compared to conventional Bricks, while providing the similar strengths. The specific gravity stays around 0.6 to 0.65. This is one single most USP of the AAC blocks, because by using these blocks in structural buildings, the builder saves around 30 to 35 % of structural steel, and concrete, as these blocks reduce the dead load on the building significantly

Advantages

1. Due to high strength, practically no breakage during transport and use.
2. Due to uniform size of bricks mortar required for joints and plaster reduces almost by 50%.
3. Due to lower water penetration seepage of water through bricks is considerably reduced.
4. Gypsum plaster (plaster of Paris) can be directly applied on these bricks without a backing coat of lime plaster.
5. These bricks do not require soaking in water for 24 hours. Sprinkling of water before use is enough.

Disadvantages

1. Mechanical bonding strength is weak. But this can be rectified by adding marble waste.
2. Limitation of size. Only modular size can be produced. Large size will have more breakages.
3. Air exchange is little poor thus house become unhealthy. Low water absorption thus not environmental friendly.

Concrete Brick

A concrete masonry unit (CMU) – also called concrete brick, concrete block, cement block, besser block, breeze block and cinder block – is a large rectangular brick used in construction.