Towards sustainable bricks production: An overview

The history of bricks making dates back to 7000 BCE, when the bricks used to be in the form of sun-dried mud blocks. Since then, a lot of modifications have been done in the composition of bricks and in brick making procedures. Ma result, in today's world, brick is considered as one of the most sought after materials used in the construction of various civil engineering structures. Now-a-days, bricks are mostly made of clay and sand mixed in suitable proportion, to which binder is added. Many-a-time, the bricks are also made up earth blocks stabilized with different materials. The stabilized block is then pressed to a suitable shape and size that can be either fired or sun-dried. However, much variation is observed in the properties of bricks and especially in its compressive strength, depending upon the composition of bricks and the manufacturing procedures (viz., moulding, pressing, firing, autoclaving, cementing, geopolymerization etc.). Moreover, the bricks are specified and classified differently in various international standard codes, depending upon the importance of structures and the severity of environmental conditions. Hence, a thorough review of the composition and properties of bricks and the various factors related to its manufacturing process is highly required for better standardization of bricks. The same has been done in the present study. A better understanding of different wastes as the brick composing material is supposed to act as a catalyst in the utilization of various mining, industrial as well as solid municipal wastes in brick industry, which will help in achieving the goal of sustainable development. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.