Page 62 - Design of Reinforced Masonry Structures

MASONRY UNITS: APPLICATIONS, TYPES, SIZES, AND CLASSIFICATION 2.15

2.4.7 Visual Inspection
Building bricks are subject to visual inspection requirements according to the ASTM
Standards. They should be free of defects, deficiencies, and surface treatments, including
coatings, which would interfere with the proper setting of the brick, or significantly impair
the strength or performance of the structure. However, all bricks have some minor inden-
tations and surface cracks inherent in the manufacturing process. They may be chipped
at corners or edges, or otherwise damaged during packaging, handling, and shipping, or
on the jobsite. These imperfections should not be considered as grounds for rejecting the
bricks. According to Ref. 2.10, there are no chippage requirements for bricks conforming to
ASTM C62-05 [2.12], ASTM C126-99: Specification for Ceramic Glazed Structural Clay
Facing Tile, Facing Brick, and Solid Masonry Units [2.17], or ASTM C32-05: Specification
for Sewer and Manhole Brick [2.19].

2.5 FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS

2.5.1 Facing Brick
Facing bricks are intended for use in both structural and nonstructural masonry where
appearance is a requirement. They are produced for the express purpose of forming
the exposed face of a wall, and covered by ASTM C216 [2.14]. They are available in
a wide variety of colors and textures. In California, facing brick units are available in a
full range of colors, from chalk or paper white to charcoal to jet black—blues, reds, purples,
oranges, yellows, browns, and grays, with intermediate shades. Terminology describing
various colors and textures may vary regionally and manufacture-wise; designers should
check with local suppliers for availability of selected color and texture.
Facing bricks come in two grades: Grade SW or MW; Grade SW may be used in lieu of
Grade MW. There is no Grade NW, since these bricks are not permitted to be used as backup.
Suppliers will normally supply Grade MW bricks, unless specifically told otherwise.
Brick types are related to the appearance of the unit and specifically to limits on dimen-
sional tolerances, distortion tolerances, and chippage of the units. There are three types of
facing bricks:

• Type FBS: These bricks are meant for general use for exposed exterior walls and inte-
rior masonry walls and partitions, where wider color ranges and greater variation in sizes
are permitted than are specified for Type FBX.
• Type FBX: These are to be used for the exposed exterior and interior masonry walls
where a high degree of mechanical perfection, narrow color range, and minimum permis-

sible variation in size are required.
• Type FBA: Bricks manufactured and selected to produce characteristic architectural
effects resulting from nonuniformity in size, texture, and color of individual units.

2.5.2 Hollow Brick
2.5.2.1 General Description. Solid and hollow bricks were defined in Section 2.3.
Solid bricks are also cored bricks. Cores are void spaces having a gross cross-sectional
2
1
area equal to or less than 1 ⁄ 2 in. . A cell is a void space having a gross cross-sectional area
2
1
greater than 1 ⁄ 2 in. A deep frog is an indentation in the bed surface of the brick which
.