Masonry and Mortar

Start with the materials

The flashcard deck offers a place to begin with questions about early brick masonry. It asks about the material used to make bricks, how it was cured, why straw was added and what was used between stone units. Use the questions to check what you already know before exploring the mind maps.

Next, open Bricks & Blocks. It groups brick types, including clay, calcium silicate and concrete bricks, alongside glass bricks and blocks. It also introduces physical properties such as compressive strength, water absorption, suction and thermal properties.

Explore bricks and mortar

The Bricks mind map covers materials including adobe, fly ash clay bricks and sand lime bricks. It notes features such as moisture-related expansion and load-bearing strength. Compare its branches with the categories in Bricks & Blocks to organize your notes on brick types and properties.

Mortar Testing moves to field testing. It includes a procedure for determining the ratio of aggregate to cementitious material in fresh mortar. Follow the branches to see how the materials and testing terms relate.

Connect the resources

After studying a map, try the quiz. Then return to the maps and flashcards to look over any terms or questions you want to study again. You can also make a short list of brick types and properties as you compare the resources.

Masonry and Mortar is a section of the Construction Materials unit in Civil engineering and construction. The Building and ceramic materials mind map provides another connection within this collection, covering stone materials and binders such as plaster, lime and cement. Choose a resource and use it to plan your next study session.