Concrete Block

A concrete block is a block made of concrete. To raise the quality of the blocks you need to apply vibration and force to make the mortar as compressed as possible. A concrete block is a general name and includes different types of blocks. Below you can see some examples of concrete blocks.

  • Hollow concrete blocks with different shapes and sizes.

  • Solid concrete blocks with different shapes and sizes.

  • Curbstones in different shapes and dimensions.

  • Paving blocks with different shapes, sizes, and colors.

  • Grasscrete blocks (also called lawn stones).

  • Concrete gutters also known as roof gutters.

  • Lego concrete blocks

  • Styrofoam concrete blocks

  • hollow floor blocks

In all the items you can see concrete included but you may ask what concrete is. Concrete is formed with aggregates, water, and portland cement which is usually in the form of powder. There are different standards for the mixture ratio of the 3 items. Also, admixtures are available to add extra features to the concrete.

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Note that there is a difference between additive and admixture. Additives are added to cement during manufacturing to get new properties for cement but admixtures are added to concrete while mixing to get new features.

Depending on your country you can use different aggregates as well, most common aggregates are limestone, shells, and chalk or marl combined with shale, clay, slate, blast furnace slag, silica sand, and iron ore. You can read more about this topic in Concrete Network. You can also read more about hollow concrete blocks in our article ''what hollow concrete block is in general and in detail''.

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Concrete Block Manufacturing Process

The concrete block manufacturing process has different steps based on the system you are producing them. The concrete block manufacturing process can be manual, semi-automatic, automatic, and full-automatic depending on your demand, country, and budget. Below you can read about them.

1. Manual concrete block manufacturing process:

The manual method is the simplest and cheapest way. All you need is molds. The concrete is mixed manually and then poured into the concrete block molds. Usually, there is no vibration and high pressure in the manual method so the quality of the concrete blocks is low.

Since the mortar is mixed manually, you can't achieve a certain ratio and each time it will be different and it will affect the quality of the final product. The manual method is also too slow since all the business is done by hand. This method is not suggested anymore since it doesn't have any advantages and it is not industrial.

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2. Semi-automatic concrete block manufacturing process:

In the semi-automatic concrete block manufacturing process you need a machine that produces the blocks. This machine is called a concrete block machine, it has molds installed in it and produces concrete blocks using pressure and vibration in the molds. The advantages of the semi-automatic concrete block manufacturing process are that your final product quality is higher than manual since it is produced using hydraulic pressure and vibration.

The disadvantage of this method is that the mixing process is still done manually and the concrete ratio will be different each time. Also, pallets from the machine are delivered by hand carts and 3 workers are needed to handle the production so you will need more workers compared to other methods of production.

If you have a limited budget and you live in a country with low labor costs and cheap lands, this option is the best option for your business.

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3. Automatic concrete block manufacturing process:

The automatic concrete block manufacturing method is the most popular option based on our sales department. The mortar preparation in this method is done automatically so your mortar quality will be the same over time since the exact ratio is used all the time. The production process is handled by robots as well and instead of three handcarts, one forklift is operated to handle the production. Cement is also stored in the cement silo and added automatically to the mixer. In this way, you can reduce the number of workers in your plant. Consider that the machine is operated by an operator in this method.

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4. Full-automatic concrete block manufacturing process:

The difference between automatic and full-automatic methods is that in the automatic method you need an operator to operate the machine but in a Full-automatic concrete block machine, the machine operates automatically. This design is suitable for developed countries where labor cost is high and the land is also expensive.

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Concrete Block Machine

These machines are also called interlocking brick machines. There are different types of concrete block machines available in the market. Some of them are mobile and some of them are stationary. There are also different automation levels for the machines as well.

This article is about the concrete block production process so machine details are not discussed here. If you are interested in learning more details about concrete block machines you can read ''Concrete block machine: description and price'' or ''Brick Making Machine''.

Consider that to choose the right machine for your plant choosing the cheapest machine is not wise at all. You need to consider technical info like pallet size, hydraulic pressure, power consumption, and vibration force to choose the best machine. Bess offers you high-quality concrete block machines with different capacities and automation levels. Below you can see the concrete block production process done by our semi-automatic machine. You can access more videos through our youtube channels VESS machine EN and BESS machine EN.

 

How To Produce Concrete Blocks

To produce concrete blocks you need to provide your plant with raw materials like aggregate, water, and portland cement. Then you need to mix them together to have a homogenous creamy mixture. There are different mixture ratios available based on your country's standards and aggregate availability. Also based on your machine choice it is done manually or automatically.

After you prepare the mortar it is time to feed it to the machine. Usually, it is done by conveyor belts. Then the machine takes care of the rest. the mortar is first poured into the machine aggregate hopper then it automatically feeds the mortar to the molds. When the mold is filled with mortar it is time for the hydraulic press to do the compressing. The vibration also helps the hydraulic system to compress it in the best possible way.

After the concrete blocks are shaped over the surface of the pallets, the machine leads the pallet toward the output of the machine. Now it depends on your machine if it is semi-automatic it is delivered to the curing section by handcarts.

 

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If your concrete block machine is an automatic machine then first, 5 pallets are stored on top of each other and then they are taken by a forklift and delivered to the curing section.

If buying land costs too much in your area then it is better to choose the automatic system to save land for the curing section up to 5 times.

 

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Concrete Block Manufacturing Daily Capacity

Each day consists of three shifts and each shift is eight hours. It is easier to discuss the capacity in each shift so there won't be any confusion.

Depending on the concrete block you are producing, the capacity of your concrete block manufacturing plant is different. Usually, paving block production capacity is discussed in square meters and the hollow blocks and solid blocks are described in numbers. The concrete block machines offered by Bess can produce 4000 pieces of standard blocks (20cm width x 40cm length x 20cm height) or 300 square meters of paving blocks in eight hours.

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 Conclusion

To produce the concrete blocks based on your market demand and local availabilities you need to choose the right machine and a suitable concrete block manufacturing business plan. Bess engineers can help you in every step of this business. All you need to do is to contact us.

 

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