Cement and concrete blocks are also used for masonry

construction. They are available in three types namely solid,

hollow and cellular. They are called hollow blocks if the
percentage of voids is more than 25% Blocks with voids less
than 25% are only perforated blocks.
Concrete blocks are usually made large in size so that the block
work is faster and consume less cement in joints than the
brickwork. These blocks are extensively used for compound walls
and non-load bearing walls.
Specially made hollow blocks are also used for load bearing
walls. Such works are useful in reducing the dead load of
masonry in buildings.
Blocks can be also with cement and sand called cement-sand
blocks or with soil and cement called soil cement blocks. These
are of low strength and used for low grade construction.

The main disadvantage of concrete blocks is shrinkage due to

movement of moisture which is absent in bricks. In addition, as these
blocks are much larger in size than bricks, any foundation movement
will cause blockwork to crack more than the brickwork.
Hence, the first important point to remember in blockwork is
that the mortar strength should not be more than the strength
of the blocks. With high mortar strength, the cracks will be few
and very large, but with weak mortar, they will be small and
distributed.

The second point to remember is that in construction, we

should use only blocks which have been cured properly for at
least 14 days and dried for 4 weeks. All the initial shrinkages
should have taken place by then. For the same reason, we do
not wet the blocks (as in case of claybricks) when we place
them for masonry construction.

A third point to remember is that ordinary

unreinforced block work in walls is very weak for
resisting lateral loads that are caused due to
expansion of roof or due to earthquake and cyclones .

Hence, block work, especially ordinary cement

sand blocks and soil cement blocks, should not be
used as load bearing walls for concrete slab roof
which tends to expand and contract with
temperature. Such block work should be roofed
over by truss work or other means in which the
loads do not come directly on the walls. Otherwise,
we should either select specially-designed blocks
or we have to introduce steel reinforcements to
take care of these lateral effects.

Soil blocks (made from stabilized soil) and mortar blocks

(made from mixture of soil and sand) are commonly used
only for low-grade constructions and compound walls.
They have very little strength. It is of the order of 1.5
N/sq.mm only, so that they cannot be made to any
substantial load. They should not be used with solid R.C.
roofs but only under light roofs (like AC. sheet on wooden
rafters) which does not produce any thermal effect on the
walls.

MANUFACTURING OF CONCRETE BLOCKS

The concrete mix for concrete blocks shall not be richer than
one part of cement to six parts of volume of combined
aggregate. Lean mixes up to 1:8 are also commonly used.
Coarse aggregate of size 6 to 12 mm is generally used. Sixty
percent fine and forty percent coarse aggregates is the mix
recommended.
The choice of aggregates for block is of utmost importance as
cost of aggregates account for a large part of the total cost.
Hence, small sized aggregates that are not generally used for
conventional concrete work are found of much use in making
these concrete blocks.
They can be hand-made and also preferably machine-made. A
simple machine can make up 1600 blocks in an eight-hour shift.
The cast block is then cured in a water tank or yard for at least
14 days. When immersed in the tank, the water shall be
changed at least every 4 days. After curing, the blocks are dried
for a period of 4 weeks before being used on the work.
They should be stacked with voids in the horizontal direction to
facilitate easy drying. Otherwise, they should be steam cured
and dried. There are only a few modern factories in India that
use steam cured in manufacturing of concrete blocks. This

DIMENSIONS AND TOLERANCES

As in case of bricks, a block is referred by its nominal dimensions.
The term nominal dimension means that the dimension
includes mortar thickness of 10 mm also. In special cases, where
finer joints are specified, the mortar thickness is limited to 6 mm.
The nominal dimensions of concrete block according to
B.I.S. are as follows

Length 400. 40. 00 or 600 mm

Height 200 or 100 mm
Width 50. 75 100. 150, 200. 250 or 300 mm
(Actual sizes will be less by 10 mm the mortar thickness)
In addition blocks are also made in half lengths. The
maximum variation allowed is 5 mm in length and 3 mm
in height and width. These dimensions can easily be
achieved in machine made blocks. The width of blocks
meant for l0ad-bearing walls will be 200 mm and for
parapet or filler walls, it is usually 100 mm.
The following are the thicknesses of the face shell and the
webs.

CLASSIFICATION OF CONCRETE BLOCKS

1. Hollow concrete blocks (Open and closed cavity
types).
These blocks are classified by BIS into the following three
grades.
(i) Grade A. These blocks are used for load-bearing walls.
They should have a minimum density of 1500 kg/rn3. They
should be manufactured for minimum specified compressive
strength of 3.5, 4.5, 5.5 and 7.0 N/mm2 in 28 days.
(ii) Grade B. These are also used for load-bearing walls. They
may have a density below 1500 kg/m3 but not less than 1000
kg/m3. They are made for specified compressive strength of
2.0, 3.0 and 5.0 N/mm2 in 28 days.
(iii) Grade C These are used for non load, bearing walls, and
its density is not less than 1000 kg/rn3. They are made for
specified strengths of 1.5 N/mm2 in 28 days.
These blocks can also be made with decorative facings like
fluted facing to give aesthetic

2. Solid concrete blocks.

These blocks are used as load-bearing walls. They should
have a density not less than 1800 kg/rn3 and should be
manufactured for specified concrete strength of 4.0 and 5.0
N/mm2 in 28 days.
3. Paver blocks.
These blocks are solid concrete blocks of various shapes
specially made for exterior ground paving on side walls. drive
ways, parking lots, industrial floors, petrol pumps, etc.

STORAGE OF BLOCKS
As these blocks can absorb moisture by wetting and
shrinking on drying, they should be protected from rains
while being stored and also when walls are being built.

AUTOCLAVED AERATED CONCRETE BLOCKS

These blocks are also known as light-weight hollow blocks. They are
prepared as solid blocks from cement, water and materials like ground
sand, pulverized fly ash together with additives to aerate and stabilize
the air bubbles. In some cases, aluminium powder, 0.12 to 0.25 per cent
by weight of cement, is added to produce hydrogen bubbles when it
reacts with the lime in the cement. The stabilizer can be soap. The
resultant mixture is a thick liquid (slurry) which is then poured into steel
moulds to form large cakes. After a few hours, this mixture sets and can
be cut into a series of individual blocks of required size by means of taut
steel wires. The blocks are then autoclaved at 10 to 15 atmospheric
pressure in high temperatures for about 18 hours. They can be made to
different strengths up to 7 N/mm2 or more, but higher the strength, more
will be its density. Very light blocks for partition and moderate-weight
blocks for light load bearing walls can be obtained from these blocks. As
the material is obtained by autoclaving, the resulting structure of cement
products is crystalline, which does not shrink on drying. The autoclaved
cement product is different from the product obtained by normal
wet curing or by ordinary steam curing.

USE OF BLOCK MASONRY IN BUILDINGS

The concrete blocks have the following advantages
over claybricks.
1. One concrete block 390 x 190 x 190 mm can replace 8 bricks,
thus, resulting in considerable reduction in cement mortar and
speed of construction.
2. Clay brick manufacturing requires excavation of good earth
from fertile areas. It also involves burning of fuel. Hence, concrete
blocks are more environment friendly.
3. Because of the air columns, hollow concrete blocks offer good
thermal and acoustic insulation. Hence, air conditioning and
insulation costs come down very much.
4. With good concrete blocks, we get a good surface finish which
need not be plastered, thus saving the cost of plastering of walls.
5. A very great advantage of using hollow concrete blocks instead
of solid clay blocks in wall construction is the large reduction in
dead load on foundations, beams, etc. that have to be considered
in structural design.
6. The strength of mortar used in block work need not be more

Limitations of

hollow

block masonry

Hollow block masonry is used extensively in India as filler

walls for framed buildings. They weigh less than the brick
walls and are cheaper than the brickwork in overall cost.
Block masonry must be used after taking all the necessary
precautions and also only in situations they are suitable for.
For example, unless they are properly reinforced, their
performance in earthquake and cyclonic regions is very poor.
In some countries like Australia, unreinforced block work is
not allowed to be used in cyclonic areas.
The work can also be executed faster. In compound wall
construction, they need not be plastered. However, it is
difficult to fix fittings like washbasins, etc. to these walls so
that such portions of a building are usually constructed with
brickwork.

TESTING OF BLOCKS
I

IS 2185_1979: PART

The usual tests prescribed for concrete blocks

are the following

1.Appearance.
2. Dimension
3. Block density.
4. Compressive
strength.
.
5. Water absorption.
6. Drying shrinkage.
7. Moisture movement