Brick clay

Learn more about clay bricks

Clay brick is one of the oldest building materials, which, according to some archaeologists, dates back to ten thousand years ago. In Iran, the remains of pottery kilns have been found in Shush and Silk Kashan, which date back to the 4th millennium BC. Also, signs of the production and consumption of clay bricks have been found in India, which indicates a 6,000-year history of this brick in that country. For the first time, they realized the baking of clay on the walls and floor of the oven.

Learn more about brick baking steps:

Brick kilns for firing primitive pottery undoubtedly consist of places where layers of firewood and clay are stacked alternately. The art of using this brick has gone from West Asia to the West of Egypt and then to Rome and to the East of India and China. In the 4th century, Europeans started using this type of brick, but after a while it fell out of favor and it was popularized again in the 4th century. It was in 12 AD that it first started from Italy. In ancient Iran, large and beautiful buildings were built with this brick and some of them are still standing, such as:

Kasri arch in the west of ancient Iran

Tomb of Shah Ismail Samani in Kavos Dome

Isfahan Mosque

Also, old bridges and dams, such as the Dokhtar Bridge of the Kabar Dam in Qom, are among the old buildings.

The stages of making clay bricks are:

• Digging and extracting raw materials
• Preparation of raw materials
• Molding
• dry
• Product unloading and storage
• Types of pottery brick kilns

After drying, the clays are stacked in the kiln, the way they are stacked is in such a way that there is a gap between them so that hot gases and flames can pass through them.

There are three types of brick kilns:

Oven oven, Hoffman oven and tunnel oven:

Tunnel kilns are the most modern pottery brick kilns in which premium and industrial ceramics are also fired.

Features of clay brick:

A good clay brick should make a ringing sound when it collides with another clay brick. The ringing sound is a sign of the health of the aggregate and its resistance and a small amount of water absorption. A good clay brick should:

It can withstand fire and does not become pasty or melt.

Its color should be uniform.

It should also be uniform and its surface without holes

Its hardness should be enough that it does not scratch the nail.

Learn more about how to calculate the number of bricks needed for the building