Analysis of the impact of brick material on building construction cost

Abstract The aim of the research is to study the effect of using lightweight interlocking bricks on the cost of building construction. Therefore, a commercial mall building was chosen as a case study. It is a structural building and not a load-bearing building. The impact of replacing regular bricks with lightweight interlocking bricks on the quantity of materials and structural design was studied. One of the programs used in this research is the Revit program to calculate the quantity of bricks, reinforcing steel, and mortar in the initial design in which regular bricks were used. And ETABS program to conduct a structural analysis after replacing regular bricks with lightweight interlocking bricks, which are characterized by many benefits. The most important one is that it does not require mortar and can be easily dismantled and reused, which makes it environmentally friendly and provides justice and accuracy in construction and does not require final finishes. It also does not require skilled labor, which reduces costs. It is characterized by its speed and ease of construction. It also allows the passage of electricity and water pipes and reinforcing steel through it, which increases the efficiency of the building. The interlocking brick depends on the mechanical interlocking technology between the pieces, which provides higher stability for the walls and a greater ability to withstand lateral loads such as wind and earthquake loads. Its interlocking characteristic helps absorb the stresses caused by vibrations, lowering the chance of breaking and collapse. This is made possible by its design, which permits a little amount of movement when under pressure. When comparing the findings, it was evident that the amount of reinforcement steel had dropped from 52 tons using conventional bricks to 45 tons using interlocking bricks. This shows how well it works to lessen the loads brought on by the walls’ weight. However, this technology faces some problems, the most prominent of which is that the interlocking between the bricks depends primarily on precision in manufacturing, and any discrepancy in dimensions may cause a weakness in cohesion and create gaps between the bricks, which leads to instability of the wall. In addition, some architectural designs are not suitable for use. Interlocking bricks, especially in projects that require great precision and complex architectural shapes.