Raw brick. Mud brick. High-quality waterproofing is the key to a long service life of bricks

Or other fibrous plant materials.

Used for the construction of walls and fences in dry climates. When wet, adobe is soft and easily placed in formwork or in bulk in the form of clay cakes or rollers. Often used in the form of parallelepipeds standard sizes, dried in advance.

Story

Adobe is one of the oldest building materials. It was used by the ancient Egyptians back in the 5th-4th millennium BC. e. The adobe walls defended the second Troy (2600-2300 BC). The material was mainly used in places that did not have forests, and, as a result, the ability to erect wooden buildings.

Manufacturing technology

Making adobe bricks

Drying bricks outdoors
(Milyanfan village, Kyrgyzstan)

Clay soil is diluted with water, kneaded in pits, boxes or on flat areas and thoroughly mixed with additives.

increase the tensile strength of cellulose fibers:
- chopped straw
reduces drying shrinkage:
accelerate hardening and increase water resistance:
improve layability (plasticizers):
- slurry

The raw tensile strength of clay concrete depends on the fat content of the clay and the time of preparation of the mixture. The optimal mixing time is determined experimentally on small samples.

Molds for making adobe are made single, double, triple, quadruple and even for 5 bricks. Molds for large blocks are made in the form of a box without a bottom, firmly knocked together from boards 25-30 mm thick. Molds for small adobe bricks are made in the form of a box with a bottom. The dimensions of raw bricks do not have clear standards and, depending on local conditions, can be large, medium and small (25x12x7 cm).

It is better to form adobe bricks in the spring, so that the wall can dry well in the sun during the summer. Work is carried out on a level area. The mold is moistened with water and sprinkled with chaff so that the clay does not stick to the walls. They take a lump of clay, approximately equal to the volume of the mold, and fill the mold with it, compact it using a hand tamper and smooth it, or forcefully throw the lump of clay into the box, thereby achieving compaction. Excess clay is removed and mixed with the total mass. After compaction, the mold is removed and moved to another place for the next filling.

The molded bricks are kept on the molding site for three days. If the site is properly constructed and there is good drainage of rainwater, then light rain is not dangerous, otherwise the adobe is placed under a canopy. After curing and drying flat, the bricks are placed on edge, with a gap between the side edges for free passage of air, and dried for another 3-7 days, then put into cages, where the adobe finally dries and hardens. A good brick is durable and does not break when dropped from a height of two meters.

Application

When constructing buildings, adobe is laid by hand.

The density of clay concrete without light aggregates is up to 1900 kg/m³. With a high straw content, density from 500 kg/m³, this material is a good heat insulator. Thermal conductivity coefficient from 0.1 to 0.4 W/m°C

The compressive strength of dried adobe and raw brick ranges from 10 to 50 kg/cm² and is comparable to aerated and foam concrete with a density of 600 kg/m³ (tensile strength 25-40 kg/cm²).

Advantages:

Low cost - no fuel is required for firing, the source material literally “lies under your feet.”
Great thermal inertia and sound insulation of walls due to their mass.
Fire resistance of options with a small amount of cellulose.
Stabilization of indoor humidity due to the enormous hygroscopicity of clay.
Environmental friendliness.

Flaws:

Low moisture and frost resistance. Plastering of the external surface or other protection from dampness is often required.
Rodents, insects, mosses, and fungi can live in adobe.
If construction takes place in frosty weather, then chemical additives to the mixing water are needed to lower its freezing point.
Long-term drying of walls and increase in strength in temperate climates.
According to Russian SNiP II-22-81 “Stone and reinforced stone structures” (2003), adobe bricks and soil stones are allowed to be used only for the walls of buildings with an expected service life of no more than 25 years.

In commercial construction, it is necessary to achieve guaranteed material strength in a given time, regardless of the weather. To do this, it is more convenient to use the same aggregates on a cement binder instead of clay, which is no longer adobe.

Features of adobe walls

Particular attention should be paid to the fact that the structures of any adobe structure must be carefully insulated from possible penetration of dampness. As a rule, moisture can get into the walls from slanting rain, the action of capillarity forces, that is, its entry from the soil, as well as due to poorly performed insulation: faulty roofing, internal condensation of steam penetrating into the walls, splashes of water falling from the roof onto the ground and etc.

The means of reliable protection of adobe walls from moisture include the construction of foundations and plinths made of waterproof materials: rubble stone, brick, concrete. At the same time, blind areas must be constructed so that rainwater, splashes and snow do not fall on the walls. It is also important to carefully install a waterproofing layer under walls, load-bearing belts, doorways, window sills, thresholds, mauerlats, and make cornices with overhangs of at least 50 cm.

To construct foundations for adobe walls, it is recommended to use rubble brick and stone, monolithic and precast reinforced concrete. The height of the base must be at least 50 cm from the foundation. In this case, the base should be carefully insulated with roofing felt, roofing felt or film. The thickness of the basement must be no less than the thickness of the external and internal walls. For external walls, the thickness is determined depending on the estimated temperature of a given climatic region, but not less than 50 cm, and for internal walls - not less than 30 cm.

In the lower layers, broken glass can be mixed into the adobe to prevent rodents from entering the wall.

Walls made of adobe are erected before the onset of autumn frosts. In the summer, walls made of adobe blocks (bricks) are laid out on a clay-sand mortar with a composition of 1:1 or 4:3, depending on the fat content of the clay. To improve the quality of the clay mortar, fine straw cuttings, chaff, etc. are added to it. In spring and autumn, masonry is carried out using lime-cement mortar.

To reduce and avoid settlement of buildings, the thickness of horizontal joints should be minimal (1 - 1.2 cm).

During the construction of adobe walls, reinforcement made of boards, brushwood or reeds is laid along the entire perimeter below the window openings and at the level of the lintels. Nodes and connections should be reinforced with these materials every 50 cm in height. The distance between the axes of the reed stems is 5 cm. In corner joints, the stems of both directions must be laid with their thick ends in the corner of the wall, having previously flattened them with a light blow of a wooden hammer for better adhesion to the mortar.

Notes

// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron
// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
// Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 4 volumes - St. Petersburg. , 1907-1909.
Saman // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed.

Mud brick is produced in the same way as the ordinary type, except for the use of firing. It is used in the construction of low-rise structures or fences because it has low strength.

The main difference from ceramic is the firing stage; therefore, the raw material has little moisture resistance. For this reason, the use of such bricks is in demand only in continental areas with sudden precipitation.
Mud bricks are fire-resistant and have fairly good sound and thermal insulation. With such important advantages for a building element, the cost of the material is quite low. By using mud bricks in climate zones with unusually warm air temperatures, people solve many problems at the same time.
The production of adobe building material can vary significantly, as various additives are introduced, it all depends on the climate of the area. This is necessary to improve the advantages of bricks that are required in the climatic zone. To increase the strength of the material, a small amount of straw is added, for plasticity it is necessary liquid glass, and moisture resistance is increased by cement.
Most often, raw material for construction is used in the regions of Europe, Africa, and Asia. These zones have a hotter climate in the summer and warm winters without much precipitation. On the territory of the Russian Federation it is not used for the construction of houses due to the sharply continental climate.

Obtaining clay

The quality of the natural clay material directly depends on the area where its extraction is planned. In this case, clay layers are located in the lower levels of soil. Most often, mining is carried out in specially designated areas, that is, quarries. To determine whether there is clay on the site or not, you need to pour water onto the soil. If an oily surface is formed, then clay is in most cases present.

Before you start producing mud bricks, you should analyze the clay. The quality of the material is determined by the fat content of the natural material. The analysis is carried out as follows: a clay sample is taken and mixed with water until a sticky layer forms on the block. After this, you need to make clay balls, about 10 pieces. They are then subjected to a drying process.

The next stage is testing the material for strength; dried clay balls are taken and then thrown from a height of 1 meter onto a hard surface. If the balls remain intact, the material is ideal for making mud bricks for construction.

Preparation of the mass

Ordinary natural material(clay) is mixed with water. This process can be carried out in the same way both in a special container and in a shallow pit. In order for the raw clay brick to be of high quality, all debris should be sifted out at the time of making the mortar. To improve the characteristics of a building material, various elements are added at the time of production.

To reduce shrinkage, sand or fine crushed stone is added at the time of drying. But they bring a significant disadvantage to the product; it becomes more fragile.
In order to speed up the drying process, a small amount of cement is added to the finished mass. It not only speeds up the hardening process, but also makes the product moisture resistant.
Improved adobe brick with straw is light in weight and has good thermal insulation properties. In some situations, wood shavings or manure are used instead of straw.

Molds for making products

To manufacture a building-type product, molds are required. They can be different, for example, made with your own hands.

To make the molds, you will need wood material, with which you can assemble a frame of the required size. This option is suitable for producing products in small quantities. The formed adobe brick, the photo of which is located below, is suitable for a visual example.

Attention

This formation is completely unsuitable for the industrial production of raw materials. In this case, special equipment is used, which allows the production of products in large volumes. This equipment presses the material.

Mechanical forming allows the material to be pressed up to 20 tons. More than 15 building material products are manufactured simultaneously. This amount of raw element cannot be obtained in home production conditions.

Product drying stage

The drying process is one of the most important and responsible, so it is necessary to treat it with the utmost care. In order to avoid moisture getting on the products during the drying process, it is necessary to build an open canopy. In this case, the wind can freely blow the raw materials from all sides.

This process lasts approximately 14 days or more, from the moment the products are laid out under the canopy. The number of days directly depends on weather conditions. It is important to remember that bricks after complete drying decrease in size by 12 percent. For flooring, it is best to use boards of medium thickness so that they do not sag under the weight of the adobe elements.

In many cases, mud brick, the production technology of which is a complex process, has many advantages. After drying, the building brick can be immediately used in the construction of buildings.

Attention

The main significance of the technology for producing adobe elements for construction is considered to be every little thing. At the time of making a solution of clay mass, the exact composition of the future building material is important. The quality and characteristics of the products will depend on this. The drying process is best carried out in the spring season. This is necessary so that the planned construction of the house is ready for use at the end of summer.

Adobe(Turkic lit. - straw) or Adobe, Adobe(Spanish) adobe, from Arabic. at-tub) (in Moldova also “lampach”) is a building material made from clay soil with the addition of straw (hence the name) or other additives, dried in the open air.

It is used to build walls and, in dry climates, fences. When wet, adobe is soft and easily placed in formwork or in bulk in the form of clay cakes or rollers. Often used in the form of parallelepipeds of standard sizes, dried in advance.

It is used mainly in Asian countries for the construction of low-rise buildings. In Russia, adobe houses are often found in rural areas; also in southern regions Ukraine and Moldova.

Story

Manufacturing technology

- chopped straw
- bonfire
- chaff
- wood shavings
- manure
- sand
- gravel
- crushed stone
- expanded clay
- cement
- lime
- liquid glass
- casein
- bone glue
- whey
- slurry
- syrup
- starch, etc.

Application

Advantages:

Environmental friendliness.

Flaws:

Features of adobe walls

Literature

Minke, Gernot.

wikiredia.ru

Advantages of mud brick

The advantages of mud brick include:

environmental friendliness;
low cost;
availability of components for manufacturing the product;
good heat and sound insulation;
increased fire resistance;
original appearance of the erected structure.

Making mud bricks

To achieve best quality clay is practiced by the method of soaking moisture. That is, the clay is left in the cold for the winter, then it is loosened, resulting in a drier material. During the process of making the mixture, the clay is moistened with water and kneaded thoroughly. Today, concrete mixers are most often used to prepare clay mixtures.

To improve the performance properties of adobe brick, straw, wood shavings, and manure are added to the mixture. Straw, for example, lightens the weight of the building material and increases its thermal insulation properties. Sometimes sand, crushed stone or gravel is added to the clay. But in this case, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the appropriate technologies, since these fillers can reduce the strength of the finished product. In addition, to increase the water resistance of bricks, lime or cement is often added to the clay mortar. Liquid glass, manure, molasses or starch are used as plasticizers, giving the material plasticity.

The quality of the mixed solution is checked as follows: a brick is formed from the resulting clay mixture and placed on, for example, the handle of a shovel (or another rounded crossbar). If, after balancing, the brick does not bend after a minute, then the ideal thickness of the mixture has been achieved.

To produce clay bricks, special molds are used—cabins. A lump is formed from the clay mixture, which is thrown forcefully into a mold moistened with water. The mass is carefully compacted to avoid the formation of voids. Excess clay is removed with a special board. The finished adobe brick is removed from the carriage and dried for three days. Then the product is placed on its edge and aged for another 7 days. After drying, high-quality brick should not have cracks and crevices, it will not split or become wet.

www.kirpich.nnov.ru

Advantages and scope of application of raw brick

The main advantage of adobe brick, as well as its other varieties (clay concrete, adobe brick), is its low cost. It is precisely because this type of building material is made of clay that it belongs to fairly fire-resistant bricks, and also has excellent sound insulation and limited thermal conductivity. All these positive qualities make raw brick very popular in areas with hot and dry climates. The production of such bricks cannot always be considered quite simple, since it depends on where exactly it will be used.

Everything flows, everything changes. Brick production technologies also do not stand still. Over time, experts come up with a number of developments that can improve the quality of this building material. For example, straw is used in manufacturing for greater strength, as well as manure, which is also used to increase the plasticity of bricks. For the same purpose, molasses, starch and liquid glass are added. To make the brick more resistant to moisture absorption, cement or lime is used as an additional material in production.

A huge number of countries from all over the world use mud bricks for construction purposes. Its distribution has been recorded in Asia, Africa and European countries (including Russia), where hot summers with little rainfall and a fairly dry climate prevail. In our country, this type of brick has long been used in construction and lining of stoves in order to help retain heat as best as possible.

Mud brick production

You can prepare clay concrete at home. It is necessary to take the clay, tamp it well into a certain shape, dry it for several days, remove it from the mold and put it back in the oven. However, this process may seem primitive only at first glance. Because we should not forget about some production secrets. The base of the brick (clay) must have a certain composition and have high ductility. You also need to know that it is better to carry out the brick production process in the spring, so that the desired structure has time to dry well over the summer. Nowadays, very few people are able and want to independently engage in the process of making mud bricks, because it is much easier to buy or order it from a factory.

postroy-sam.com

History[edit | edit code]

Manufacturing technology[edit | edit code]

Clay soil is diluted with water, kneaded in pits, boxes or on flat areas and thoroughly mixed with additives.

increase the tensile strength of cellulose fibers:
- chopped straw
- bonfire
- chaff
- wood shavings
- manure
reduces drying shrinkage:
- sand
- gravel
- crushed stone
- expanded clay
accelerate hardening and increase water resistance:
- cement
- lime
improve layability (plasticizers):
- liquid glass
- casein
- bone glue
- whey
- slurry
- syrup
- starch, etc.

The raw tensile strength of clay concrete depends on the fat content of the clay and the time of preparation of the mixture. The optimal mixing time is determined experimentally on small samples.

Application[edit | edit code]

When constructing buildings, adobe is laid by hand.

The compressive strength of dried adobe and raw brick ranges from 10 to 50 kg/cm² and is comparable to aerated and foam concrete with a density of 600 kg/m³ (tensile strength 25-40 kg/cm²).

Advantages:

Low cost - no fuel is required for firing, the source material literally “lies under your feet.”
Great thermal inertia and sound insulation of walls due to their mass.
Fire resistance of options with a small amount of cellulose.
Stabilization of indoor humidity due to the enormous hygroscopicity of clay.
Environmental friendliness.

Flaws:

Low moisture and frost resistance. Plastering of the external surface or other protection from dampness is often required.
Rodents, insects, mosses, and fungi can live in adobe.
If construction takes place in frosty weather, then chemical additives to the mixing water are needed to lower its freezing point.
Long-term drying of walls and increase in strength in temperate climates.
According to Russian SNiP II-22-81 “Stone and reinforced stone structures” (2003), adobe bricks and soil stones are allowed to be used only for the walls of buildings with an expected service life of no more than 25 years.

Features of adobe walls[edit | edit code]

In the lower layers, broken glass can be mixed into the adobe to prevent rodents from entering the wall.

To reduce and avoid settlement of buildings, the thickness of horizontal joints should be minimal (1 - 1.2 cm).

Literature[edit | edit code]

Minke, Gernot. Clay concrete and its application. - Kaliningrad: FGUIPP “Yantarny Skaz”, 2004. - 232 p. - 2000 copies. - ISBN 5-7406-0756-6.

en.wikipedia.org

V. D. Kuznetsov

RAW BRICK (based on Phanagoria materials)

The article is devoted to the use of mud brick in Phanagoria in Archaic and Early Classical times. This building material was the main one - almost all buildings in the city during the period under review were built from mud brick. One of the reasons for this state of affairs was the shortage of stone on the Taman Peninsula. The bricks used in construction varied in quality. Some of them contained an increased amount of sand, which led to premature deformation of the walls. It is not always possible to record the dimensions of bricks. However, some buildings give their exact dimensions: 0.52 x 0.45 x 0.07 m; 0.46 x 0.42 x 0.05 m; 0.57 x 0.42 x 0.07 m.

Keywords: mud brick, building materials, Phanagoria

The proposed work is devoted to one of the important building materials used by the ancient Hellenes in construction - mud brick. It is based on data obtained as a result of research in Phanagoria from the layers of archaic and early classical times. The most common material in ancient civilization was, of course, stone, including marble. It was used to construct both public buildings and private houses. However, building with stone required more financial costs and professional knowledge. The stone had to be cut out in a quarry, transported to the construction site, processed and adjusted to the location. It is clear that structures made of such durable material were more durable and reliable. However, the stone was not available everywhere and not always. In this case, clay from which unfired bricks were made was often used to replace it. Mud brick was often used in construction even where stone was in abundance. For example, we know about buildings for various purposes, built of brick in various cities, from archaeological sources and written documents1. Mud brick was used especially intensively in the Archaic period2. This material was often used to build city fortifications3.

What explains this? First of all, because this material was cheap and accessible, a building could be built from it much faster than from stone. In addition, the house, built of mud brick, kept heat well in winter and did not warm up much in summer. Building a house from mud bricks was quite simple, since clay could be easily found almost everywhere. Making bricks was also easy. However, not everything is so simple. Let's look at this in a little more detail.

Kuznetsov Vladimir Dmitrievich - doctor historical sciences, Head of the Department of Classical Archeology at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Email: [email protected]

2 Lang 1996, 111-113; Hellmann 1992, 341-342.

3 Thuc. 3.20; Frederiksen 2011, 54-55; Hellmann 2010, 309.

Vitruvius' recommendations on the technology of making bricks from clay are well known. Let's give a rather long quote (Vitr. De architectura 2. 3, 1): “So, I will start with bricks and tell you what kind of earth they should be made from. They should not be made from sandy (harenoso), not from rocky (calculoso) clay and not from gravelly (sabulonoso) clay, because this kind of bricks, firstly, will be heavy, and secondly, getting wet in the walls from the rains, They will begin to disintegrate and crumble and, due to their roughness, will not bond with the straw mixed into them. But they must be made from whitish, chalky clay (terra albida cretosa) or red (rubrica), or even from dense marl (masculo sabulone); All these rocks, due to their softness, are durable, are not heavy during construction, and are easy to crush” (translated by F.A. Petrovsky)4.

It follows from this that not all clay was suitable for making high-quality bricks. This is confirmed by inscriptions, particularly from Delos. One of them talks about the import of bricks from the island of Syros: “For the house “So-sileia” two hundred bricks from Theognotus, 3 others; payment for transportation by sea to Antigonus and accompanying cargo 7 dr. 3 vol.” (IG XI. 2. 165, 6). Another document reports on the delivery of clay to Delos from a neighboring island: “Arhelais, who contracted to bring clay from Panormus on Mykonos, 157 dr.” (IG XI. 2. 199a. 101)5. In other words, clay of the required quality, which was not available in a given place, could be brought specially from another place.

Vitruvius also makes other requirements for the preparation of mud bricks: the time of year suitable for production (autumn and spring), and the amount of time required to dry the brick (from two to five years) (Vitr. 2. 3, 2). It is important to know to what extent these requirements were met: after all, drying bricks for two, and even more so five years, noticeably increased the time construction work. However, inscriptions (in particular, the same annual Delian construction reports) show that the artisans supplied the bricks in the same year in which they received the order6. Examples from modern times can be cited to support this. One American researcher describes the process of making bricks in Turkey7. This process takes a short period of time. Clay is hammered into a wooden mold of six compartments (in three full-size bricks, in the other three - halves), and after five minutes the finished bricks weighing 15-16 kg are dumped on the ground, where they are dried in the sun for 4-5 days. Three Turkish workers can produce 720 bricks within 10 hours of work. It is curious that the Greek Anthology (AP. 14.136) speaks of the production of 750 bricks by three people in a day.

Experiments on drying bricks in the sun were carried out in other places. For example, researchers write that 24 hours after drying, a brick can be picked up, but not thrown. After a few days it acquires the strength of soft stone. Testing has shown that sun-dried mud brick can withstand a maximum load of 1.6 kg/cm28.

4 Compare: Plin. N.H. 35.49.

5 Kuznetsov 2000, 317-318.

6 Kuznetsov 1995, 105-106.

7 Hostetter 1994, 29-30.

8 Rostoker, Gebhardt 1981, 213-217. See: Kuznetsov 1995, 123, n. 100.

Thus, we can say that making bricks for ordinary buildings such as a residential building did not require a large amount of time, calculated in many months, much less years. Vitruvius' recommendations apparently apply only to some important public buildings, as is confirmed by his reference to officials of the city of Utica. To prepare the bricks, there was no need to set up any special room: all that was needed was a place where the clay was kneaded, straw was added to it, and then laid out to dry finished products 9. For the last operation, a canopy may have been needed to create shade.

Now let's move on to the question of the use of mud bricks in Phanagoria. It is well known that for the Taman Peninsula, stone has always been a scarce building material, which was brought from other places. This circumstance has become one of the important factors in the massive use of clay in the construction of public buildings and private houses. This remark specifically applies to the early periods of the city’s history - the archaic period and classical time. Although it should immediately be noted that the use of mud bricks in construction continued in later times until the early Middle Ages (Khazar period).

The earliest layers were discovered by excavations in the central part of the site, on a hill that over time was turned into an acropolis. Here, at the “Upper City” excavation site, about 3,000 square meters have been uncovered over the past decades. m. cultural layer. Several dozen buildings made of mud bricks of varying degrees of preservation were discovered in this area. On average, the walls of buildings have been preserved to a height of 2-3 to 7-9 rows. Some of these houses have already been partially described in previous publications10. Here are just a few small examples to highlight some of the technical details.

One of the earliest on this site is house 212, built of mud bricks (Fig. 1, 2). Only the northern wall (3 m long) and a small fragment of the western one have survived from it. The preservation of the walls is due solely to the fact that they were buried in continental sand. Everything above the surface of the sand was destroyed at a later time. Before the construction of the house began, the ground surface was not leveled. The bricks were laid on a slight slope in such a way as to eventually level the surface of the wall. The dimensions of the bricks are 0.5-0.51 x 0.43-0.44 x 0.06-0.07 m.

Another house (205) is located a few meters north of house 212. Fragments of three walls have been preserved from it (Fig. 3, 4). Two of them form a right angle between themselves and are the external walls of the structure, and the third is interior wall. The dimensions of the bricks are not recorded precisely; they are close to the figures of 0.55 x 0.4 m. The walls have been preserved to a height of up to 0.6 m (9 rows of bricks). The house stands on a slight slope towards the north. As in the case of house 212, the ground surface was not leveled before construction began.

9 A complex of technological issues with full use of written sources on this subject is considered in the works of H. Blumner, A. Orlandos and R. Martin (Blümner 1879, 9-22; Orlandos 1966,51-58; Martin 1965, 46-50). A good selection of archaeological evidence is collected in the book: Sanidas 2013.

10 Kuznetsov 2011, 121-125; 2013, 450-451; Zavoykin, Kuznetsov 2013, 162-164.

Rice. 2. Wall of house 212

Rice. 3. Corner of house 205 at the stripping level

Rice. 4. Coating the wall of house 205

Therefore, to compensate for the lowering of the surface, the ancient builders were forced to increase the number of rows of bricks in the eastern and western walls from south to north. Only the western part of the house was excavated. Its total area exceeds 65 square meters. m. The structure consists of a living space and a courtyard, which adjoins it on the north side. The area of the latter is more than 42 square meters. m. In the southwestern corner of the courtyard there are the remains of a fireplace, which was fenced off with mud bricks placed on edge. The bricks are coated on both sides with a layer of clay up to 0.01 m thick.

In addition to residential buildings, excavations uncovered a public building (No. 300)11 (color incl. 12, Fig. 5). The foundations for three walls have been preserved from it. The building has a rectangular shape. Its area is 75 square meters. m. Walls made of mud bricks stood on the foundations. Their traces are recorded on the northern masonry. It was not possible to determine their exact dimensions, but the length of the bricks (lying across the wall) hardly noticeably exceeded 0.5 m. The situation with the western wall is very interesting. Only its northern part, 4.05 m long, is built on a stone foundation. Further south, the bricks are laid directly on the mainland. The explanation lies in the terrain. The fact is that building 300 stands on a slope that slopes from southeast to northwest (like the entire surface of the site on which the excavation is located). To prevent the mud brick walls from sliding down the slope, a stone foundation was built. This was especially necessary on the northern, eastern and western sides. However, due to the shortage of stone characteristic of Phanagoria and the entire Taman Peninsula, builders decided to save on this material where they could do without it. That is why the southern wall and the southern part of the western wall had no foundations, and the bricks were laid directly on the ground. The large size of Building 300 indicates its public purpose12. In accordance with the finds and stratigraphy, we can say that building 300 was built in the second half of the 6th century. BC, most likely in the 530-520s.

In addition to above-ground buildings, the excavation site included the basement of a residential building (No. 266) (Fig. 6). The eastern part of the basement was destroyed by a later pit, so its dimensions cannot be determined. Its preserved area exceeds 8 square meters. m. The surface of the walls is fixed almost on the surface of the mainland. Everything that was located above was leveled during the construction work of subsequent times. The depth of the basement from the fixed surface of the walls is 1.2-1.3 m. The walls are made of mud bricks. The dimensions of the bricks are 0.43-0.45 x 0.38-0.4 x 0.07 m. Approximately 16-18 rows of bricks have been preserved in the walls. The inside of the basement walls are coated with a thin (less than 1 cm) layer of clay, the same as the clay of mud bricks.

Recently, two more large buildings built from mud bricks were explored at the “Upper City” excavation site. The bricks of one of them (No. 464) (color incl. 12, Fig. 7), consisting of at least four rooms, were laid on continental sand without any foundation. Their dimensions, unfortunately, cannot be accurately measured, but we can say that they are close to 0.5 x 0.42 m. Another building (No. 294) also consisted

11 Zavoykin, Kuznetsov 2011, 188-198.

12 Kuzmina 2012, 258.

Rice. 8. North wall without stone foundation of building No. 294

from at least four rooms (Fig. 8; color incl. 13, Fig. 9). Its walls were also laid on the ground, with two exceptions: the eastern wall and one of the partition walls between the rooms were laid on a stone foundation. Moreover, the northern half of the foundation for the eastern wall was 0.6 m wide, and the southern half was twice as wide (1.2 m). Explanation for this mysterious fact not found yet.

We have given as an example several structures built from mud bricks discovered in recent years of archaeological research in the historical center of Phanagoria. Now let us dwell on the question of the size of the mud bricks used in Phanagoria. As already mentioned, it is not always possible to determine their exact parameters. This is usually explained by the fact that it is difficult to find completely preserved bricks (Fig. 10). True, there are exceptions. Thus, bricks from some buildings give exact dimensions: 0.52 x 0.45 x 0.07 m; 0.46 x 0.42 x 0.05 m; 0.57 x 0.42 x 0.07 m. In general, we can say that the most common brick has dimensions approaching 0.5 x 0.42 x 0.06 m. What is the reason for the use of bricks in Phanagoria of different sizes remains unclear.

Rice. 10. Remains of the wall of house No. 285

As is known, Vitruvius (2.3.3) speaks of three types of bricks, of which the Greeks used in construction: two for public buildings - tsutabyro?, and for residential buildings - tetrabyro?. Thus, the first type of brick was 1.25 feet, and the second - 1 foot (there are 4 spans in one foot)13. However, the problem is that in different parts of the Greek world the size of the span ranged from 6.8 to 8.8 cm. 14 This depended on the adopted measurement system15. But even if we take the maximum possible figure of 8.8 cm, then Phanagorian bricks will still turn out to be larger than tsutabyro-sized bricks. Rather, they will already be approaching the first (according to Vitruvius) type - Lydian16.

Rice. 11. Bricks in the basement wall No. 266

Now let's focus on the raw materials and quality of bricks in the buildings of Phanagoria. When examining various buildings, one immediately notices the fact that the bricks in them are made of different clays and often differ in color. For example, in house No. 6 (the so-called “sculptor’s house”17), the bricks stand out for their high quality workmanship; finely chopped straw is fixed in them18. The bricks are light yellow in color, the clay is clean, fairly dry and free of foreign impurities. In basement No. 266, mentioned above, viscous and damp brown clay was used (Fig. 11). It is obvious that not only was it taken from another place, but it was also prepared

13 Richardson 2004, 29.

14 Wikander 2008, 767.

15 Malagrino 2010, 50.

16 Cf. Orlandos 1966, 59. The Lydian bricks measure approximately 1.5 x 1.25 feet, which for a span of 8.8 cm is 52.8 x 44 cm (see Martin 1965, 55-56) .

17 Kuznetsov 2001, 324.

18 In one of the Eleusinian inscriptions of the 4th century. BC reported the purchase of 120 bags of straw, which was used in the manufacture of mud bricks (IG II2 1672.73-74).

Rice. 12. Bricks with a high sand content in one of the walls of building No. 464

Rice. 13. The collapse of one of the walls of building No. 464

somewhat differently (for example, it did not take as long to dry compared to the bricks from house no. 6). Another example comes from building no. 464 (Fig. 12). It is built of bricks that contain a significant amount of sand. For this reason, the walls of this building have deteriorated quite strongly over time, the bricks have blurred and lost their shape (Fig. 13). The same applies to another building, where there is a large amount of sand in the bricks (Fig. 14). Obviously, Vitruvius' remark about the need to avoid using clay with sand is quite justified.

Rice. 14. Wall of building No. 308: some of the bricks contain a large amount of sand

What is the reason that Phanagorian builders not only used clay from different clays, but also made bricks of different qualities? The answer, apparently, can be neither simple nor unambiguous. An important factor could be played by such a factor as the need to build a particular building in a short time. This may explain the use of excessive amounts of sand in the manufacture of bricks for building No. 464, which negatively affected its quality.

To summarize, we note the following. Making mud bricks did not require special qualifications and was accessible to almost any person who intended, for example, to build a house for themselves. This conclusion is confirmed by written documents19. There was also no need to build any special room, since only a free area was needed on which the clay was crushed and the finished product was dried. It is clear that in order to prepare high-quality building material, it was necessary to have a certain

19 Kuznetsov 2000, 86, 318.

gained experience and adherence to certain technological rules, which were not difficult to obtain from our own and acquired experience. Violation of these rules (which could be explained by various reasons) led to the appearance of low-quality products. For example, to the appearance of bricks with a high sand content, which resulted in the construction of fragile walls. Conversely, adherence to the basic rules of technology made it possible to erect buildings that could be used for many decades. For long-term operation of such structures, only their protection from the adverse effects of weather was required. For this purpose, mud brick buildings were protected with a layer of special waterproof coating. In this matter, the Hellenes reached great heights: waterproof coating, prepared on the basis of lime, often represents a durable layer like plaster. It is no coincidence that there were several terms in the Greek language for this type of work, the exact meaning of which remains far from always clear (aHof^, xPl^lç, Kovlaaiç, Khbykytsa)20.

Mud brick was a beneficial building material not only because of its low cost, technical availability, ductility, but also because of its strength and fairly high reliability. The width of the walls usually approached half a meter.21 In Phanagoria, bricks were always laid with the long side across the wall, which was on average about 50 cm. Moreover, as the example of Olynthos shows, houses made of mud bricks could have second floors. Moreover, they were often covered with tiles22. A fragment of a tile (round calypter) with a painted antefix on the end, found in the 2014 season in a layer of Late Non-Archaic-Early Classical time, shows that buildings made of mud bricks in Phanagoria could be covered with tiles (color incl. 13, Fig. 15) .

LITERATURE

Zavoykin A.A., Kuznetsov V.D. 2011: The oldest public building in Phanagoria // PIFK. 4, 188-198.

Zavoykin A.A., Kuznetsov V.D. 2013: Some problems of urban planning of Phanagoria in the 5th century. BC // warhead. XIV, 162-169.

Kuznetsov V.D. 1995: Early types of Greek housing in the Northern Black Sea region // BS. 6, 99-126.

Kuznetsov V.D. 2000: Organization of public works in ancient Greece. M.

Kuznetsov V.D. 2011: Notes on the cultural layer of Phanagoria // Greek and barbarian monuments of the Northern Black Sea region. Experience in methods of Russian and Ukrainian field research. M., 117-130.

Kuznetsov V.D. 2013: Phanagoria - the capital of the Asian Bosporus // Ancient heritage of Kuban I / G. M. Bongard-Levin, V. D. Kuznetsov (ed.). M., 431-469.

Kuzmina Yu.N. 2012: Sacral complexes of Phanagoria in the context of the urban landscape // BC. XIII, 256-264.

Blümner H. 1879: Technologie und Terminologie Gewerbe und Künste bei Griechen und Römern. 2. Leipzig.

Frederiksen R. 2011: Greek City Walls of the Archaic Period, 900-480 BC. Oxford.

20 Hellmann 1992, 37-42; Kuznetsov 2000, 151, 280, 306.

21 Cf. Haagsma 2003, 40.

22 Robinson, Graham 1938, 223-234. Weight of tiles per square meter. m of roof reached many tens of kg, often exceeding 100 kg (Hostetter 1994, 34).

Haagsma M.J. 2003: The Houses of New Halos // Housing in New Halos. A Hellenistic Town in Thessaly, Greece / H. R. Reinders, W. Prummel (eds.). Lisse; Abington; Exton; Tokyo, 37-79.

Hellmann M.-Ch. 1992: Recherches sur le vocabulaire de l'architecture grecque, d'après les inscriptions de Délos. P.

Hellmann M.-Ch. 2010: L'architecture grecque. 3. Habitat, urbanisme et fortifications. P.

Hostetter E. 1994: Lydian Architectural Terracottas: A Study in Tile Replication, Display and Technique. The Archaeological Exploration at Sardis (Illinois Classical Studies Supplement 5). Atlanta.

Kuznetsov V.D. 2001: Archaeological Investigations in the Taman Peninsula // North Pontic Archaeology. Recent Discoveries and Studies / G.R.Tsetskhladze (ed.). Leiden; Boston; Köln, 319-344.

Lang F. 1996: Archaische Siedlungen in Griechenland. Struktur und Entwicklung. Berlin.

Malagrino C.G. 2010: Constructing the Ancient World. Architectural Techniques of the Greeks and Romans. Los Angeles.

Martin R. 1965: Manuel d'architecture grecque. I. Matériaux et techniques. P.

Orlandos A. 1966: Les matériaux de construction et la technique architecturale des anciens Grecs. I.P.

Richardson W.F. 2004: Numbering and Measuring in the Classical World. Bristol.

Robinson D.M., Graham J.W. 1938: The Hellenic House (Excavations at Olynthus VIII). Baltimore.

Rostoker W., Gebhardt E. 1981: The Reproduction of Rooftiles for the Archaic Temple of Poseidon at Isthmia, Greece // Journal of Field Archaeology. 8.1, 211-227.

Sanidas G.M. 2013: La production artisanale en Grece. Une approche spatiale et topographique à partir des exemple de l"Attique et du Péloponnèse du VIIe au Ier siècle avant J.-C. Lille.

Wikander Ch. 2008: Weights and Measures // Engineering and Technology in the Classical World / J. P. Oleson (ed.). Oxford, 759-769.

MUD BRICK: EVIDENCE OF PHANAGORIA

The article deals with the use of mud bricks in archaic and early classical Phanagoria. During the period in question, this building material was the most common architectural media. Almost all the buildings in the city at that time were made of mud bricks, partly because the Taman Peninsula was poor extremely in stone. The bricks used in structural construction differed in terms of their quality. Some of them contained an increased amount of sand, which caused the walls to deteriorate prematurely. The exact dimensions of the bricks are not always easy to determine. Still, a number of buildings have preserved well enough to allow their precise measurement: 0.52 x 0.45 x 0.07 m; 0.46 x 0.42 x 0.05 m; 0.57 x 0.42 x 0.07 m.

Key words: mud bricks, building materials, Phanagoria

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Features of mud brick

The production of raw bricks is done using the technology of ordinary ordinary bricks. There is simply no firing involved in its production. For example, you cannot build a house from mud brick, because it does not have the necessary strength. But utility rooms can be made. At the moment, it is used during the construction of walls in low-rise buildings, as well as fences in rural regions with low living standards.

Solving the issue with such an approach at the moment will hardly be appropriate - it is much easier to purchase a stone that will fully comply with the required characteristics and manufacture the desired composition through trial and error.

Making bricks at home

Firing of raw bricks is not provided. It dries in its natural environment. Therefore, its price is much lower from ceramic material. You also cannot make facing brick. Raw clay bricks must be selected carefully and here you will need to experiment to achieve the correct composition.

Drying of raw bricks is done on specially prepared racks. During this process, the bricks should not be exposed to direct sunlight. Drying time is influenced by mobility, humidity and air temperature. This period may take from 6 to 15 days.

Application of material

Raw bricks can be used in the construction of auxiliary buildings. Construction does not use it very often due to the specifics of production and quality.

Brick firing

It can also be done by firing raw bricks, although it will no longer be raw, but a full-fledged material.

Such a comparison will determine how successful the production experience was. Surely a brick that was made at home will be able to compete with all the rules of GOST 530-2007, but if only a couple of bricks are needed to finally complete the construction, then this is a good enough option to get out of the situation while spending a smaller amount.

Now you know raw brick. There are instructions and they will help you do it yourself. Just don’t rush, you always need to calculate and weigh everything. Look at the photo and collect more information and only then should you make a decision.

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Mud brick

Raw brick (another name for this building material is adobe) is an excellent building material. It has long been known to mankind, simple and easy to manufacture and use. Adobe is more common in southern places, but is sometimes found in the middle zone.

Excursion into history

The first buildings where raw brick was used appeared almost six thousand years ago. This is not surprising, since a person needs somewhere to live, and there are often not enough funds to build housing. And it has always been like this: now, a hundred years ago, a thousand... If we are talking about living near the mountains or in a forest area, then cheap building materials are available in sufficient quantities. But what about those who live in the steppes or deserts? There, stone and wood were very expensive and not available to everyone. Of course, houses were built from expensive building materials there too, but not everyone could afford such luxury. And then, around the fourth millennium BC, a way was found to build clay buildings mixed with straw.

Properties of adobe, pros and cons

Raw brick with cut straw is a very convenient building material. Its advantages include extremely low cost. After all, the costs of its production are practically zero, since the raw materials are literally under your feet. Another advantage of using this building material is its sound and heat insulation characteristics. Also, adobe is hygroscopic, due to which it has a beneficial effect on the indoor microclimate, absorbing excess moisture and preventing the occurrence of dampness and mold inside. Also, raw brick, like any building material based on clay, is fire-resistant and provides significant fire safety buildings.

But this building material has several disadvantages. Raw brick walls are susceptible to moisture, so a good layer of high-quality plaster is required to protect them. In a temperate climate, brick takes a long time to dry and slowly gains strength. Also, adobe is unsuitable for construction in winter time. Rodents and other pests often like to live in walls made of raw bricks. This can be prevented in advance by using special additives or properly treating the surface. Among other things, a building made from this brick takes a little longer to build, since the walls need more time to achieve the required strength.

Raw brick and its types

There are two types of adobe: light and heavy. To build from light adobe, bricks as such are not needed at all. A mixture of clay and filler is prepared, and proportionally more filler is taken than clay, and it is applied to the wooden frame of the building with sheathing. Sometimes adobe is simply laid between the inner and outer wall sheathing. The advantages of this method are simplicity and speed. Disadvantages - requires a lot of wood. Heavy adobe is the same raw brick with straw. Houses made from it are much stronger, more reliable, and are built from ready-made blocks. Wall finishing is possible immediately after construction is completed.

Material selection

They don’t, therefore, in order for it to turn out to be of high quality, and the structure to be strong and reliable, you need to pay full attention to the choice of material, that is, clay, at the initial stage. Bricks made from low-plasticity clay will turn out brittle, while bricks made from very oily clay will crack due to changes in temperature and humidity. There are many ways to determine its quality. Let's look at a few of them.

Method one - stir the clay to the required viscosity, make three small cubes with sides of 20 cm each. The first cube should be made only of clay. In the second you need to add about 10% sand. And to the last cube you need to add fatty clay, also in a proportion of 10-15%. On all cubes, on one side, use a stick or nail to make shallow lines crosswise diagonally. Their width is approximately 5 mm, and their length is 10 cm. The cubes are dried for a week and a half, and then the lines are measured. The clay where the lines have become shorter by 6-10 mm (compressibility 6-10%) is optimal for making

The second method is to knead the clay well, form it into a ball with a diameter of about five cm and smoothly compress it with two even planks. Clay of low plasticity begins to crack when the ball is compressed by a fifth or quarter of its diameter. Medium ductility - cracks appear when compressed by a third of the ball diameter. High ductility - cracks when compressed to half the diameter. Optimal ductility is medium. We bring it to the required plasticity with sand or fatty clay.

Method three - a roller about 20 cm long and 1-1.5 cm thick is formed from well-kneaded clay. The roller is wound on a tube with a diameter of 20 cm. Low-plastic clay cracks and tears strongly, highly plastic clay remains completely without cracks, and with the most suitable clay composition, a network of small cracks.

Clay preparation

The best option would be to prepare the clay ahead of time. Fold it into stepped ridges with a width at the bottom of up to two and a half meters and a height of up to a meter. Water each stepped layer with water and soak the material for one winter. But you can use clay without preparation. You need to mix enough clay to make enough work for one day. For calculation: to make 1000 pieces of standard adobe brick, you need almost 3 cubic meters of clay. It is scattered in layers of 15-20 cm, crushed and mixed with fatty clay or sand and with the filler that is selected, that is, chopped straw, chaff, chaff, etc. This must be done gradually and only in a dry state. Clay sides are made along the edges of the working area to retain water. Then they begin to fill the mixture with water. Usually water is coming about 20-25% of the amount of clay. They mix the clay with shovels, feet, or even concrete mixers.

Making brick blocks

As a rule, the sizes of adobe blocks come in three types and depend on the climate of the area where the house is being built. The drier and hotter the climate, the larger size blocks are made so that they can dry well and gain the necessary strength. Small blocks have dimensions of 30x14x10 cm. Medium ones - 30x17x13 cm. Large ones - 40x19x13 cm. Do not forget that during the drying process, bricks lose up to 10-15% of their volume. Therefore, the mold is made 5-6 cm larger than the future brick. Forms can be made for one, two or four bricks. You can make it without a bottom, or you can make it with a bottom in the form of boxes with handles. To better separate the finished product from the mold, you can line its inside walls with dense polyethylene. They are made at the same place where they will be dried in the future. If necessary, the clay mixture is transported on a cart, placed with a shovel into molds with a top, compacted with a board, the excess is carefully cut off, and the blocks are laid out to dry.

Drying of finished products

The finished adobe brick is pierced in 2-3 places with thin (1.5-2 mm) wire and kept on the molding site for three days. Turn it over periodically to ensure even drying. After this period, the blocks are placed on their edges and dried for another 3-5 days. And only then the bricks are stacked with a small gap between them. The blocks are covered on top with mats, shields, tarpaulins, polyethylene, etc. The main thing is to prevent moisture from entering during drying. The drying process takes from 2 weeks to a month depending on weather conditions. The degree of readiness can be determined by looking at the break. The entire fracture surface should be uniform in color, without spots in the middle. Also, a brick thrown from a height of two meters must remain intact and placed in water for 48 hours must not lose its shape.

We build a house from adobe

As has already been mentioned several times, when building from raw brick special attention You need to pay attention to insulating the walls from moisture.

The foundation for adobe blocks is preferable to the strip type, 20-25 centimeters wider than the masonry itself. This is done to protect the walls from rain splashes. The height of the foundation is 50 cm and above. Material - rubble stone or concrete. A layer of waterproofing is required on top of the foundation.

Walls are usually built: external - from 50 cm thick, internal - 30-40 cm. The solution is made from water, one part clay and one part sand. The masonry can also be reinforced with reeds, brushwood or straw. You can't do masonry in the rain. You need to immediately cover the walls and wait for dry weather. You can't build walls in winter. Immediately after the construction of the walls, they need to be finished with plaster. It is better to use gypsum plaster, since cement plaster does not have good enough adhesion to raw brick.

The roof is made light to reduce pressure on the walls, and with a large overhang of up to 70-80 cm to move the drain further away from the walls. The floor can be insulated with expanded clay, and the top made of planks with joists.

Conclusion

These are all the main points that relate to the production of raw bricks and what you should pay attention to when building a house from it. The opinion that such a building is short-lived is deeply erroneous. A house made of adobe, built in compliance with all technologies, will last for hundreds of years. Such houses are warm in winter and cool in summer. It is no wonder that interest in houses made of adobe blocks is returning all over the world.

Story

Manufacturing technology

Application

Features of adobe walls

See also

Notes

Obtaining clay

Preparation of the mass

Molds for making products

Attention

Product drying stage

Attention

Story

Manufacturing technology

Application

Features of adobe walls

See also

Literature

Advantages of mud brick

Making mud bricks

Advantages and scope of application of raw brick

Mud brick production

History[edit | edit code]

Manufacturing technology[edit | edit code]

Application[edit | edit code]

Features of adobe walls[edit | edit code]

See also[edit | edit code]

Literature[edit | edit code]

Features of mud brick

Making bricks at home

Application of material

Brick firing

Excursion into history

Properties of adobe, pros and cons

Raw brick and its types

Material selection

Clay preparation

Making brick blocks

Drying of finished products

We build a house from adobe

Conclusion