Perbandingan Karakteristik Batu Bata konvensional dan Batu Bata Cetak Mekanis di Desa Tanjung Pisang Kabupaten Kepulauan Meranti

Bricks are primary wall construction materials whose quality is strongly influenced by the manufacturing process. This study aims to analyze and compare the physical characteristics(geometric dimensions, bulk density, and initial water absorption rate) as well as mechanical properties (compressive strength) of conventional (manual) and mechanical molded bricksproduced in Tanjung Pisang Village, Kepulauan Meranti Regency, based on SNI 15-2094-2000 standards. Laboratory testing of 30 samples at the Civil Engineering Laboratory of PoliteknikNegeri Bengkalis revealed that mechanical molded bricks possess superior physical dimensionalprecision (length 185.80–191.97 mm; width 90.47–94.77 mm; thickness 51.70–55.43 mm) and ahigher average weight (1,466.8 g) compared to conventional bricks. The average initial waterabsorption rate for mechanical bricks was 34.04 g/dm²/min, whereas conventional bricks recorded
22.07 g/dm²/min, with both types showing comparable bulk density values of 1.876 kg/dm³(mechanical) and 1.874 kg/dm³ (conventional). Mechanically, conventional bricks exhibited a
higher average compressive strength of 46.22 kg/cm² but suffered extreme data fluctuations (14.53–89.53 kg/cm²) due to uneven traditional firing, whereas mechanical bricks achieved an averagecompressive strength of 32.32 kg/cm² with a much more homogeneous distribution. In conclusion, mechanical molded bricks offer superior dimensional accuracy and quality consistency, while both brick types meet the necessary reliability requirements for non-structural infill wall construction.