Lego brick: technical features. Lego brick - an effective building material with an unusual appearance What is it made of
When discussing such a building material as Lego brick, it is extremely difficult to extract a grain of truth from multiple conversations about this product and find out its really truthful characteristics. The very name of this type of brick, borrowed from a popular company, has a simplifying task, which is often not in favor. This especially affects professionals in this activity and more experienced amateurs.
So, the term Lego brick, in literal translation from English it sounds more detailed and complete - “interlocking brick”, which means “interlocking” bricks, blocking brick, that is, a brick with a lock.
Lego bricks - characteristics and features.
The main characteristics of this brick product include:
- strength - M 150,
- density - 1550 kg / m3,
- frost resistance - 35 cycles (for harsh climatic conditions, performance can be improved).
Advantages of Lego bricks:
- The benefits are visible even to non-professionals. Due to the presence of grooves, laying them is faster and easier. The existing holes can be used for wiring. The weight of Lego bricks is less than that of other types.
- Making Lego bricks does not require firing, which greatly reduces the cost. Instead of firing, strong pressing is used, which gives strength. It has not only different colors and shades of colors, but also a variety of textures.
- Thanks to hyperpressing, this brick can be attributed to a variety of artificial stone. It can be successfully used for building cladding. And high strength allows you to lay out not only partitions, but also load-bearing walls.
- Laying Lego bricks does not require special skills, it is enough to lay out the first layer correctly, and then the process will go quickly enough. Indeed, because of the existing grooves and spikes, they are ideally suited to each other. The adhesion of the layers does not take place with a traditional solution, but with the use of special glue, which can be applied with a brush or roller. The use of glue will not only reduce costs, but also does not require much physical activity as in the preparation of cement mortar. And the wall will look aesthetically pleasing.
One cube contains 500 bricks. To assemble 1 cube of Lego bricks, you need 15 kg. tile adhesive for outdoor use.
Lego brick production and equipment.
Before starting the cultivation of Lego bricks, it is necessary to adequately assess all the disadvantages and advantages of this method, as well as to study all the expenses and costs. It is necessary to realize the full scale of the future production, since this industry requires not small areas for production. But this is the case when the conversation is about business.
If you make it yourself, you will need to calculate the profitability and decide what will be easier - to make it yourself or order it in production.
According to the classical scheme, the ratio of elements in the composition of a brick is as follows:
- Sand - 10%
- Screening - 70%
- Cement (M500) - 20%
From 1 ton of such a mixture, approximately 290 Lego bricks will be obtained. Costs will depend on the price of materials in your locality. Equipment for the manufacture of Lego bricks is available in large quantities on the CIS construction market.
Equipment for making Lego bricks at home.
To work at the start, it is enough to purchase a machine (hyperpress), an industrial mixer and other things - molds (matrices), pallets, shovels, etc.
The cost of equipment for the production of bricks depends on productivity:
- machines with low productivity up to 1000 pieces per shift (manual or low power) - 90-300 thousand rubles;
- middle class - about 2000 bricks per shift, price from 350 thousand rubles;
- industrial equipment or a mini-factory make it possible to produce more than 750 pieces per hour, but the cost is high - from 2 million rubles.
The brick machine consists of the following parts:
- bunker for bulk materials;
- dispenser;
- matrix for forming Lego bricks;
- pump;
- press;
- bed;
- electric motor (not available in manual units).
Do-it-yourself lego brick machine.
You can make a lego brick machine yourself. Before starting work, it is necessary to prepare certain materials that will become the basis for the machine.
These include:
- channel;
- sheet steel;
- metal corner;
- a pipe to create a handle and a piston;
- bolts and nuts.
You will also need a tool. At least a grinder will come in handy and welding machine. Cylinder racks must be made from channel sections, the length of which is approximately 1 m. The width of the cylinder will correspond to the length of the brick being made. Two metal rectangles must be welded between the uprights in the upper part, which will form a section.
A channel is applied to the resulting structure, the length of which is approximately 0.7 m. It must be placed with the ribs up. It should be welded on one side, and under the protruding part, fasten with supports. After that, a hole is cut above the cylinder, corresponding to its perimeter. The bunker will be welded from a metal sheet. It is important that its width and length fully correspond to the dimensions of the final form. The bunker is mounted on 4 legs, the basis of which will be metal strips welded to the protruding part of the channel. The piston is made of sheet metal. Two pipes should pass through this rectangle.
We make a handle from cutting a pipe and strips of metal, with which the lid will open and close. The handle is attached with long bolts. The corner will be needed to make the base for the machine. Homemade machine will allow you to make two types of bricks yourself. It can be either Lego with holes or full-bodied. It is not worth doing the manufacture of the matrix. Much wiser to buy ready-made.
Necessary raw material for making Lego bricks.
For the manufacture of this material, environmentally friendly substances are used. All components are widely used and available. There is no exact recipe for the preparation of raw materials - the ratio of ingredients depends on the required density and quality.
One of the options for the composition of the mixture:
- filler - elimination of crushed limestone (up to 90%);
- binder - cement (7-15%);
- water (up to 5%);
- plasticizers;
- dyes.
Comparison of technical characteristics of Lego bricks against classic ones.
On the net you can find many opponents of Lego technology leaving negative reviews. But take a closer look - basically all the shortcomings of the Lego-brick are far-fetched and have nothing to do with practice. Most likely, these are the same professionals who are terribly upset by the price cuts and the arrival of new people in their business. Let's compare the Lego brick with the usual burnt counterpart in terms of the main technical indicators.
Data taken from open sources. As a starting point, we took the strength of the brick. It can be different depending on the production technology. M150 is the recommended minimum strength for the construction of load-bearing structures.
Conclusion.
Currently, Lego bricks are considered as a material of a new generation. They are still treated with interest and wariness. But more and more often, “Lego” (brick) reviews from builders are positive due to the quality of the material and ease of installation, as well as favorable prices, practicality and impeccable appearance. And those are pretty strong arguments.
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Lego bricks are real construction material, which only resembles plastic bricks from a children's designer. Laying Lego bricks greatly simplifies the construction process, since the most difficult stage is the construction of the first row of this material. The next rows are assembled quickly and evenly, if you follow the instructions.
In the process of laying, the upper round ledges are connected to the lower cavities. For additional fixation, glue or ordinary cement-sand mortar is used. As a result, a strong grip is formed, the rigidity of the corners is observed, which allows any novice builder to build from Lego bricks.
There are many varieties and shapes of bricks with fixing protrusions and edges, but the most popular product repeats the size of a regular red brick and has two protrusions and two grooves.
Unfortunately, in Russia there is no standard for the production of such material. GOSTs have not been developed, and therefore the production of this material is mainly carried out by mini-factories, but, probably, with the growing popularity of this product, the technology for the production of bricks with fixing locks will be brought to general standards.
Advantages and disadvantages
In addition to ease of use, Lego-type products have a number of positive properties:
- low cost of the material;
- the possibility of placing a system of communication wires inside the masonry without the use of chasing;
- due to the inclusion of dyes in the composition of Lego bricks, it is possible to obtain a variety of colors of the material;
- a house made of Lego bricks does not have to be finished - a smooth front surface and the absence of the need to perform jointing implies obtaining perfectly even facades;
- the weight of the product is noticeably lower than the standard material, and therefore, when erecting low-rise buildings and structures, simpler and cheaper types of foundation can be used;
- due to its external data, this material is excellent for finishing already built buildings, for the construction of brick decorative elements, fences and framing of fireplaces and stoves.
The negative aspects include the relative novelty of this material in the domestic market and the lack of statistical data on the actual durability and operation of the product under load.
In addition, there are currently no trade marks on the building materials market that could confirm the high quality of such products, and craftsmen have to build facilities based on the assurances of the owners of small factories.
Application area
According to the technical specifications provided by the manufacturers, this material can be used for the construction bearing walls, single fences and used as finishing material for wall cladding.
Due to the increased strength of masonry, which exceeds conventional brickwork in this characteristic, buildings and structures made of the material in question cope well with seismic loads.
Characteristics
The technical indicators of Lego products are comparable to those of ordinary hollow bricks, therefore, when considering the durability of a product, one can take into account the durability of red bricks, which ranges from 30 to 50 years.
Characteristics:
- Frost resistance: from 200 cycles.
- Moisture resistance: the material absorbs no more than 6% of moisture, which makes it possible to build objects from it in areas with high air humidity.
- Density: 1550 kg/m 3 .
- Thermal conductivity: 0.45 W/(m*K).
- Strength: M100–M200 (the material is intended for construction multi-storey buildings and structures).
- Weight: 3 kg.
- Lego brick dimensions: 250*125*65 or 300*150*100.
- Colors: in the preparation of raw materials for the production of Lego bricks, dyes are used, as a result, products of various colors are obtained from light beige and red to gray and dark blue.
If we compare an ordinary hollow brick and a Lego product, it will be found that their strength and frost resistance are identical, the density of a standard brick is slightly higher, and the water absorption is almost three times greater, while Lego is 30% lighter.
The disadvantages include the poor thermal conductivity of Lego products, compared with ordinary bricks, but this issue is solved by using a heater in the backfill.
To form a mixture for the production of bricks, the following components are used:
- limestone screening;
- cement mortar as a binding material;
- water;
- dyes.
The instructions that come with the equipment will help you correctly calculate the proportions of each ingredient. The production process is to form bricks by pressing under high pressure. The strength of the product depends on the level of pressure and the size of the fractions of the bulk material.
How to lay Lego bricks
The main task for obtaining high-quality and durable masonry using Lego products is the installation of the first row. Start laying bricks on a perfectly leveled surface. It is especially important to precisely drive out the corners on the first row. brickwork.
Perpendicularity is checked using construction tools or using a plumb line if a novice builder makes a small masonry on his own in his suburban area.
Even for individual construction, it is desirable to have a drawing of the future structure. If you act without a scheme, at random, even the most advanced material will not help to get a high-quality and reliable structure.
After the device of the first row and checking the masonry for compliance with the dimensions and angular ratios, they begin to lay out the main volume. It is quite easy to build a wall of Lego products on a well-laid base.
It is enough to follow the installation diagram. To connect the bricks, a special glue is used, which is applied with a construction gun. The use of a cement-sand mortar is acceptable, but in the absence of certain experience, it may affect the quality of the masonry.
The laying of the main volume is carried out, as in the case of ordinary bricks, in compliance with the dressing of the seams. Thanks to the round protrusions and recesses, it is impossible to make a mistake with respect to the dimensions. The process of laying such bricks does not take much time and, with a certain skill, the master can make a volume of at least three cubic meters per shift.
Comparison with classic masonry
When comparing construction technology using conventional hollow bricks and products with fixing surfaces, it turned out that building a structure from a new material is much easier and cheaper.
Description specifications of both materials confirms that with the same product dimensions, Lego bricks are 1 kg lighter than their opponent, which has a positive effect on the cost of transporting the material and lifting it to the required height. In addition, a lighter structure will require less foundation costs.
With minimal water absorption, Lego will resist weathering for longer and high humidity than ordinary brick. The cost of both products is about the same, but if you take into account the cost of shipping the material, using Lego will be more economical.
You can save even more on transportation costs when building a structure made of Lego bricks if you organize the production of this material directly at the construction site. This will require special equipment, ingredients to create a mixture and a place to store and dry finished products.
Is it possible to make your own
Before you start making Lego bricks with your own hands, you should carefully calculate the economics of the project. If a small amount of material is required for construction work, it is better to purchase it from reliable suppliers. It is possible to purchase special equipment and allocate a site for the storage of components and finished material only in case of stable and constant demand.
To obtain a quality product, you will need the following materials:
- sand at the rate of 1:10;
- screening at the rate of 1:70;
- Portland cement M500 at the rate of 1:20.
About 285 finished products are obtained from one ton of raw materials. The cost of materials, electricity, the level of transportation costs and the wages of workers depend on the location of the mini-factory equipment, and can vary significantly from city to city.
For the production of Lego products, you can pick up any equipment - from small hand-held devices, on which you can make up to 800 pieces per working day, to powerful mini-factories with high productivity from 10,000 pieces. The cost of molding presses varies from 45,000 rubles to several million.
A modern, high-tech brick, which is assembled into a single structure according to the principle of the Lego children's designer. Lego brick is an innovative building material with excellent performance characteristics, as well as a clear geometry of all faces. The tolerance of each of the dimensions does not exceed one millimeter, which is very important for the coincidence of depressions and bulges during masonry.
This building material has appeared quite recently, but has already gained immense popularity among do-it-yourself consumers and professional builders. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is the ease of working with this type of brick. When used for construction and cladding, it is not necessary to use many tools and equipment, as a result of which the construction process is greatly simplified and cheaper.
What is a lego brick?
A distinctive feature of such a building material as Lego brick is the presence of two guide holes that protrude slightly above the main surface of the brick. During the laying of two bricks on top of each other, these holes form something like a special lock. This connection is formed according to the tenon-groove principle, which ensures high accuracy and resistance to mechanical stress of the entire structure.
When laying Lego bricks, a special tile adhesive is used, not a cement mortar. Thus, there is no need to mix the mixture and use special tools for applying the solution. Tile adhesive must withstand low temperatures. For its application to the surface of the brick, a special construction needle or other tools are used that are used to apply the adhesive composition. This ensures ease of operation and significantly speeds up the work. The consumption of glue is relatively small; for laying five hundred Lego bricks, twenty-five kilograms of glue are needed.
When building non-permanent buildings (barn, fence, block, etc.) using Lego bricks, you can not use tile glue, but pour cement mortar into technological holes, creating additional vertical reinforcement using fiberglass and iron fittings. In addition to the vertical reinforcement, you can create horizontal reinforcement, as a result of which a stiffening belt is created.
When both types of reinforcement are combined, the masonry will have much in common with a monolithic slab, and will also have unique strength properties.
Depending on the type of reinforcement used, the speed of building with Lego bricks is about twice as fast as building with regular bricks. This is achieved due to the almost ideal geometry of each brick, as well as the presence of guide holes in it. The most important thing when building a structure using Lego bricks is the correct arrangement of the first row, as well as carefully monitoring the uniformity of the application of tile adhesive, a layer of which is applied to each product.
The history of the brick constructor
Literally translated from English, Lego brick (interlocking brick) means a blockable brick, or a brick with a lock, having protrusions (thorns) on one side, and grooves on the other, which are securely connected to each other during laying, without a thick mortar joint.
Local architects and engineers appreciated the innovation, and in the late forties, Lego was officially used in the construction of a public building, where, according to documents, new way"automatic masonry". However, the Danes either did not guess at once, or did not consider it necessary to patent the invention, and when the castle brick became popular in other countries, they rushed, but it was too late. After several decades of litigation, in 2010 the "parents" of the brick from Denmark were officially denied the right to be considered as such. Therefore, the media periodically flashes information either about students from America or about a group of enthusiasts from Brazil, but their merit, rather, is in improving the fixation system invented by Christiansen.
Design features, production method, characteristics
The Lego shape is standard, rectangular, the protrusions and grooves are formed by two round voids, the height of the protrusion is 5 mm, as is the depth of the groove, and the diameter is 65 mm. Lego is close in size to an ordinary single brick, it has a standard length of 250 mm, a slightly larger width of 125 mm, and a height varies between 65-70 mm, depending on the manufacturer. The mass of one brick fluctuates within 3 kg, which is explained by the different raw material base.
The groove connection system provides the main fixation of the elements in the masonry, so there is no need for a thick seam, the brick is placed either on a thin layer of adhesive mixture squeezed out of a device such as a confectionery syringe, or on a special mounting foam. In both cases, there is no jointing characteristic of brickwork. It is easier to work with Lego, thanks to the grooves, the masonry is even, large volumes of mortar are not needed. To be on the safe side, some cut grooves for rebar in the corner bricks.
Domestic castle brick is basically a kind of smooth, full-bodied hyper-pressed brick, produced by pressing under high pressure without subsequent firing. Unlike ceramics, which are based on special types of clay, and silicate, which consists mainly of sand and lime, hyperpress is produced mainly from waste from the mining and processing industries. It can be crushed shell limestone, dolomite, marble or crushed stone screenings, blast-furnace slags. In addition, brick battle, waste from sawing natural facing stone, coal is used. The mineral raw material is cleaned and crushed to a fraction of 3-5 mm, its share in the brick is 85-92%. Cement M 500 (from 8 to 15%) is used as a binder, as well as dyes and modifying additives that improve the characteristics of the finished product.
If the strength and durability of ceramics is ensured by firing, and silicate - by pressure and hot steam treatment, then the hyperpress is “welded” into the strongest homogeneous mass due to ultra-high pressure - 300 kg / cm².
Such an impact leads to the adhesion of substances at the molecular level, resulting in a very dense, durable and frost-resistant brick with the correct geometry of the faces.
Application, masonry features
The characteristics of hyperpressed bricks make it universal, it can be used for laying load-bearing and enclosing structures, fences, objects landscape design. However, high density, which provides increased frost resistance and resistance to external influences, which is good, also gives high thermal conductivity - up to 1.1 W / (m * C⁰). A homogeneous wall made of such bricks is cold and needs additional insulation, so hyperpress is mainly used as a cladding.
Lego, theoretically, is also suitable for load-bearing walls, since reinforcement for a bundle is inserted into the voids and filled with DSP or its derivatives, it turns out something like a monolith with a double-sided brick cladding. But since the material is relatively “young”, and no one knows for sure how it will behave under heavy load in a few decades, they prefer to clad facades or use it for laying fences, entrance groups, gazebo complexes, summer kitchens or garages.
As a facade material, it is optimal due to its high decorativeness (clear geometry, large color range) and minimal permeability - the walls are not so polluted due to precipitation, efflorescence does not form on it. Moreover, if you do not fill the voids, the cladding will also be better kept warm due to the air gaps around the entire perimeter. As an option, insulation can be poured into the voids, for example, perlite or its analogues. The main advantage of Lego is the ability to get a smooth, beautiful masonry, even if there is no experience as a bricklayer, which is especially important for the facade, since the services of professionals bite more and more every year. This attracted one of the craftsmen of our portal, who chose a lock brick for the construction of a garage; in the process of laying, he used reinforcement and filling insulation.
desident73 Member FORUMHOUSE
Knowledgeable people know how good masons are valued, when laying Lego there is no need for qualification, at most - hands from the right place to bring out the first row, then on the machine. Raised a 6×3×2.4 m box in less than a week, it is a pleasure to work, no masonry finish is needed, everything looks natural and presentable. The garage was used in the winter, warm, not blown, the period of transition from season to season was also maintained at 100%, no milky liquids were observed. There are plans to build a two-storey guest house next year.
There are no pictures of his garage, but there is a photo of another, another craftsman from the forum with the nickname spbmaster, he used legos as cladding for his garage.
Pitfalls, or our reality
The Lego manufacturer is of great importance - not all handicraft companies can provide proper preparation of raw materials, as well as processing with voiced pressure.
There are practically no large factories, with lines for the production of not just a hyperpress, but its castle variety, in our country. The main problem of private traders is to withstand the pressure. The machines that appeared in the free market in many, for the most part, are not designed for it. With less pressure, a less dense brick with a porous structure is obtained, with less strength. Introduction more binder, to compensate for less pressure, partially solves the problem, but also affects the cost. Another of our participants, who is engaged in the production of Lego, knows firsthand about this.
Igor_43
We have been producing bricks since January 2015 on domestic equipment, there is a certificate for products for strength M 150, frost resistanceF 50. Theoretically, it is possible to work, but there are some difficulties.
Difficulties, according to the craftsman, are conditionally divided into three categories.
- The pressure that the machine produces is not enough - at thirty-five tons the brick turns out to be porous (relatively), the removable (initial) strength is low, the brick is easily damaged when laid on a pallet, further spalling is possible already in the structure, under load. The lack of machine pressure has to be compensated by doubling the percentage of cement.
- The equipment constantly breaks down, the adjustments of the bricks in height “float away”. The production should have an “emergency suitcase” - a welding machine, a grinder, a set of tools, a turning section, and even better - a machine-building plant at hand.
- The equipment is not automatic, but manually controlled, therefore, the human factor is important - employees must be responsible, conscientious, with a head and hands, and it is not easy to find such a team. Real productivity with the participation of two people is only up to 600 bricks per eight-hour shift, if three people - up to 1000 pieces, which is much less than stated by the machine tool builders. The result is an increase in the salary fund, an increase in the cost of renting premises, heating and other consumables.
The name of the brick is immediately associated with a children's designer, but a thorough translation means interlocking interlocking, which gives the structure increased reliability.
The use of material in the construction of buildings allows the use of simplified laying technology. This leads to savings in time and money spent on paying human labor.
The composition and characteristics of lego bricks
A brick is made from the following components:
- cement;
- screenings;
- shell rock.
Instead of shell rock, other mineral fillers are also used: dolomite, marble, limestone, etc.
In the process of kneading, in addition to water, plasticizers, pigment and other chemicals are added, which give the block strength and resistance to the aggressive effects of atmospheric phenomena.
Lego brick is endowed with the following characteristics:
- a solid structure allows the use of modules for the construction of not only partitions, but also load-bearing walls (up to 300 kg per 1 sq. cm);
- due to partial hollowness, the block has less weight, which reduces the load on the foundation;
Read also: Ceramic brick: production technology, types, characteristics
- Presentable appearance standard parameters 250x120x65 mm;
- seismic resistance of structures exceeds the data of ordinary brick by 1.7 times;
- an environmentally friendly product (consists mainly of natural components);
- high frost resistance;
— thermal conductivity 0.4–0.45 W/m*K;
- durability.
Benefits of lego bricks
– saves time and money during construction;
- high strength opens up wide areas of application;
- easily tolerates temperature changes;
- no rough finishing is required after laying out the surface;
- simple installation, even an amateur can handle it;
- formed seams are sealed with ordinary grout;
- communications can be carried out into existing openings;
- in the assortment of colors and textures;
- affordable cost.
The main disadvantage of a brick is not an established production of products in industrial volumes. The low speed hinders the widespread use of the product. But this phenomenon is temporary, the development of technology gradually solves any problems.
Features of laying lego bricks
Masonry is carried out on a waterproofed foundation surface. The blocks are connected on a special adhesive composition applied with a mounting gun.
It is practically impossible to lay the modules unevenly, the holes with channels provide for the vertical and horizontal alignment of the hitch.
