Wall Elements for Masonry

CONSTRUCTION BLOCKS
BY Raghu Faculty of Civil Dept. DSCE
Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Laterite as building material

Laterite is well known in Asian countries as a building material for more than 1000 years. Laterite is a residue ferruginous rock first discovered in the Malabar region of kerala & Karnataka.

These are highly weathered soils, which contain large, though extremely variable, proportions of iron and aluminium oxides, as well as quartz and other minerals.
The colours can vary from ochre through red, brown, violet to black, depending largely on the concentration of iron oxides.
Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

The special characteristics of laterites, by which they differ from other soils, are:

Soft occurrences tend to harden on exposure to air, which is why blocks have traditionally (eg in India) been cut in situ, allowed to harden and then used for masonry wall construction (hence the name was derived from later, the latin word for brick).

The darker the laterite, the harder, heavier and more resistant to moisture it is. Laterite stone-1 Laterite stone-2

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

It is full of cavities and pores, and contains a very large quantity of iron in the form of yellow and red ochres. In the mass, while excluded from the air, it is so soft, that any iron instrument readily cuts it, and is dug up in square masses with a pick-axe, and immediately cut into the shape wanted with a trowel, or large knife.
It very soon after becomes as hard as brick, and resists the air and water much better than any brick that I have seen in India. The compressive Kg/sqcm. strength of laterite is around 120

Laterite extraction at site is possible, but the really hard upper layer has to be removed first to reach the soft layers, below. Then the extraction can be done with the locally available tools.
Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Hollow Clay blocks

The demand for eco-friendly building materials is on the rise globally. India, the birthplace of clay brick architecture, still yearns to go back to the clay days. A green building leads to the reduction of natural resource consumption, reduction of operating costs, energy optimization and better indoor air quality. By using clay, a 100% natural material, and production practices that have minimal impact on environment. Hollow clay blocks are earthy, season sensible, practical to work with and bring down your construction cost by more than 15 per cent The thermal insulation is twice as good compared to concrete blocks, and the blocks are half the weight of their concrete counterpart
Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

While a concrete block weighs

30 kg, a Porotherm clay

block is only 30 kg, making it a light weight for a nonload bearing wall.

It is available in three sizes. vertical and heavy load bearing blocks have better insulation properties with grip holes, making it easier for masons to handle them, light weight for a non-load bearing wall.

Clay hollow bricks have high compressive strength (>35 kg/cm2)

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Concrete block:
Concrete Block Technology is based on the principle of densification of a lean concrete mix to make a regular shaped, uniform, high performance masonry unit. Concrete Block Technology can be easily adapted to suit special needs of users by modifying design parameters such as mix proportion, water/cement ratio and type of production system. It is an effective means of utilizing wastes generated by stone crushers, quarrying and stone processing units.

Concrete blocks may be produced with hollow centres to reduce weight or improve insulation
Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Appearance :
Concrete blocks will have a light grey concrete colour, and on close inspection may show a granular texture depending in the type of aggregate used.

Structural Capability :

Major advantage of concrete blocks is that their strength can be engineered as per requirement. Thus making them relatively stronger than masonry with bricks walls by
around 15-20%.

These blocks are 4-5 times bigger than burnt bricks; the size of the block or brick used has a bearing on the strength of the masonry. As the bigger size accounts for reduction in the number of mortar joints, thereby increasing wall strength.
Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

The blocks are cured for a minimum period of 14 days, before they are ready to use.

Thermal properties :

Concrete blocks have an excellent thermal property, comparable to other masonry blocks, as cavities in the blocks provide better thermal protection. The performance of these blocks increases with the increase in the number of hollow cores, which may or may not be filled in with some insulating materials. Concrete blocks provide an acceptable degree of sound insulation.
Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Sound insulation :

Durability and moisture resistance :

They are very popular as a long lasting, low maintenance masonry unit, with good compressive strengths. They have a general lifes span of about 60yrs although may extend up to 80yrs or more. They are robust and durable even if wetted. It water absorption is less than block.

10%

of weight of

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Sustainability(environmental impacts) :

Cement contributes maximum to the embodied energy of the product and masonry. Production and application procedures for concrete blocks have been optimized to maximize efficiency of cement use. The emobodied energy in concrete blocks masonry is 270 MJ/Sqm as against 640 MJ/Sqm for brick walls. Therefore concrete blocks, through efficient use of cement, consume less than 50% of the energy, which is consumed by brick walls.
Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Buildability, availability and cost :

It has been found that concrete blocks enable savings of approx 8-9% per sq m. of masonry as compared with burnt bricks. This is primarily because of the savings in mortar and faster construction speed, both due to the larger block size and also due to the savings in plaster. Size optimization of concrete blocks also leads to increase in usable internal space, when compared to conventional fired brick construction. Through decentralized local production it is easily available through a large number of manufacturers and distributors in most parts of India, in both rural and urban areas
Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Applicability :

Concrete blocks have various types like; solid, hollow, paving, tree-guard blocks, and each of them are available in various shapes and sizes. This vast range of products offers a large market for application. In load bearing structures - low rise residential and office buildings, bungalows, shelter units for rural housing, highway constructions, institutional buildings, godowns and warehouses etc In frame structures High rise apartments, office buildings, complexes,hospitals and hotels etc. residential market

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

As ground laying units interlocking paving blocks for roadside walkways, garden pathways, curb stones, exhibition grounds, fuel pumping stations, movement corridors, high traffic movement areas like: bus and train stations etc. Specific usage areas: tree guard blocks for roadside and garden tree plantations

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE

Raghu Thyagaraj, Asst Prof, Civil Dept, DSCE