Properties of bricks - Hardness, Compressive strength, Absorption, Frost resistance, Efflorescence, Efflorescence.

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Hardness.
This is a somewhat vague term commonly used in the description of bricks. By general agreement it is recognised that a brick which is to have a moderately good compressive strength, reasonable resistance to saturation by rainwater and sufficient resistance to the disruptive action of frost should be hard burned. Without some experience in the handling, and of the behaviour, of bricks in general it is very difficult to determine whether or not a particular brick is hard burned.

A method of testing for hardness is to hold the brick in one hand and give it a light tap with a hammer. The sound caused by the blow should be a dull ringing tone and not a dull thud. Obviously different types of brick will, when tapped, give off different sorts of sound and a brick that gives off a dull sound when struck may possibly be hard burned.

Compressive strength.
This is a property of bricks which can be determined accurately. The compressive strength of bricks is found by crushing 12 of them individually until they fail or crumble. The pressure required to crush them is noted and the average compressive strength of the brick is stated as newtons per mm of surface area required to ultimately crush the brick. The crushing resistance varies from about 3.5 N/mm2 for soft facing bricks up to 140 N/mm2 for engineering bricks.

The required thickness of an external brick wall is determined primarily by its ability to absorb rainwater to the extent that water does not penetrate to the inside face of the wall. In positions of moderate exposure to wind driven rain a brick wall 215 mm thick may absorb so much water that it penetrates to the inside face.

The bearing strength of a brick wall 215 mm thick is very much greater than the loads a wall will usually carry. 

The current external wall to small buildings such as houses is built as a cavity wall with a 102.5mm external leaf of brick, a cavity and an inner leaf of block. The external leaf is sufficiently thick, with the cavity, to prevent penetration of rain to the inside face and more than thick enough to support the loads it carries.

It is for heavily loaded brick piers and walls that the crushing strength of brick is a prime consideration.

The average compressive strength of some bricks commonly used is:

Absorption.
Scientific work has been done to determine the amount of water absorbed by bricks and the rate of absorption, in an attempt to arrive at some scientific basis for grading bricks according to their resistance to the penetration of rain. This work has to date been of little use to those concerned with general building work. 

A wall built of very hard bricks which absorb little water may well be more readily penetrated by rainwater than one built of bricks which absorb a lot of water. This is because rain will more easily penetrate a small crack in the mortar between bricks if the bricks are dense than if the bricks around the mortar are absorptive.
xperimenta1 soaking in water of bricks gives a far from reliable guide to the amount of water they can absorb as air in the pores and minute holes in the brick may prevent total absorption and to find total absorption the bricks have to be boiled in water or heated. The amount of water a brick will absorb is a guide to its density and therefore its strength in resisting crushing, but is not a reasonable guide to its ability to weather well in a wall. This term ‘weather well’ describes the ability of the bricks in a particular situation to suffer rain, frost and wind without losing strength, without crushing and to keep their colour and texture.

Frost resistance.

A few failures of brickwork due to the disruptive action of frost have been reported during the last 30 years and scientific work has sought to determine a brick’s resistance to frost failure. Most of the failures reported were in exposed parapet walls or chimney stacks where brickwork suffers most rain saturation and there is a likelihood of damage by frost. Few failures of ordinary brick walls below roof level have been reported. Providing sensible precautions are taken in the design of parapets and stacks above roof level and brick walls in general are protected from saturation by damaged rainwater gutters or blocked rainwater pipes there seems little likelihood of frost damage in this country.

Parapet walls, chimney stacks and garden walls should be built of sound, hard burned bricks protected with coping, cappings and damp-proof courses.

Efflorescence.
Clay bricks contain soluble salts that migrate, in solution in water, to the surface of brickwork as water evaporates to outside air. These salts will collect on the face of brickwork as an efflorescence (flowering) of white crystals that appear in irregular, unsightly patches. This efflorescence of white salts is most pronounced in parapet walls, chimneys and below dpcs where brickwork is most liable to saturation. The concentration of salts depends on the soluble salt content of the bricks and the degree and persistence of saturation of brickwork.

The efflorescence of white salts on the surface is generally merely unsightly and causes no damage. In time these salts may be washed from surfaces by rain. Heavy concentration of saks can cause spalling and powdering of the surface of bricks, particularly those with smooth faces, such as Flettons. This effect is sometimes described as crypto efflorescence. The salts trapped behind the smooth face of bricks expand when wetted by rain and cause the face of the bricks to crumble and disintegrate.

Efflorescence may also be caused by absorption of soluble salts from a cement rich mortar or from the ground, that appear on the face of brickwork that might not otherwise be subject to effiorescence. Some impermeable coating between concrete and brick can prevent this (see Volume 4). There is no way of preventing the absorption of soluble salts from the ground by brickwork below the horizontal dpc level, although the effect can be reduced considerably by the use of dense bricks below the dpc.

Sulphate attack on mortars and renderigs.
When brickwork is persistently wet, as in foundations, retaining walls, parapets and chimneys, suiphates in bricks and mortar may in time crystallise and expand and cause mortar and renderings to disintegrate. To minimise this effect bricks with a low sulphate content should be used.

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