DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
Ab
Conventional bricks are the most elementary building materials for houses construction.
However, the rapid growth in today’s construction industry has obliged the civil engineers in
searching for a new building technique that may result in even greater economy, more
efficient and durable as an alternative for the conventional brick. Moreover, the high
demands for having a speedy and less labour and cost building systems is one of the factor that
cause the changes of the masonry conventional systems. These changes have led to
improved constructability, performance, and cost as well. Several interlocking bricks has been
developed and implemented in building constructions and a number of researches had
studied the manufacturing of interlocking brick and its structural behaviour as load bearing
and non -load bearing element. This technical paper aims to review the development of
interlocking brick and its structural behaviour. In conclusion, the concept of interlocking system
has been widely used as a replacement of the conventional system where it has been utilized
either as load bearing or non-load bearing masonry system.
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 1
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
CHAPTER NO 1
INTRODUCTION
Brick masonry is an ancient material and one of the most significant construction materials all
over theworld. The conventional techniques for bricks making has brought irrefutable
drawbacks
[1]. The ancient and conventional procedures of brick making were by mixing the raw
materials, muilding the bricks, and drying and firing them till they obtain a certain level of
strength.
[2] However, the manufacturing process of bricks on the last two decades trended to new
methods in order to reduce the shortcoming of the ancient methods of making bricks. Due to
the current trend within the last two decades, bricks have been developed in different
classifications namely solid brick and interlocking brick. The present of interlocking mortarless
brick work has prompted a huge increment in field profitability and effectiveness, and also a
diminishment in the prerequisites for very particular work teams. Besides, the utilization of
interlocking blocks work has increased fast prevalence in numerous inside nations as a
contrasting option to traditional blocks for supportable and sustainable buildings. Interlocking
blocks are unique in relation to conventional blocks since the absence of the mortar to he filled
between the blocks layers during the construction process, in light of this characteristic, the
way toward building walls and partitions is specdier and requires less skilled workers as the
blocks.
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 2
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
CHAPTER NO. 2
Development of interlocking brick
Different types of interlocking blocks and bricks have been produced amid the previous years,
varying in the composition of material, dimension and shape, contingent upon the required
strengths and usage. These comprise of "Sparlock system, Meccano system, Sparfil system,
Haener system. Putra block system and the Solid Interlocking blocks (SIB) or Hydraform blocks",
which are a change over the conventional bricks and blocks
[1] that the various interlocking blocks based on materials are "soil-cement blocks, nee hush
ash cement blocks, and concrete blocks". The soil cement blocks depend on the soil and cement
qualities, the cement-to-soil ratio usually lies between 16 and 1:10, hy volume while the rice
hush ash (RHA) cement blocks, the cement to rice hush ash ratio is 1:4 by volume. Also, for the
concrete hlocks, the distinctive mix quantity of cement sand:gravel is 1:5:3.
[2] developed a mortariess interlocking soil-cement block for masonry construction. With the
appropriate block, the pressing mold was established and samples were adapted in 3 mixtures
of soil and cement displaying construction feasibility. In accordance to the related standards,
compression resistance, absorption of water and sizing were tested. The results revealed that
the absorption of water is the only parameter that mismatched with standards requirements.In
Malaysia.
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 3
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
[3] developed interlocking load bearing hollow block system called PutraHlock. The blocks are
placed on each other and 30 interlocking projections are given in the face of theblocks to
incorporate the blocks into masonry systems. 21 different block models have been investigated
and analyzed with respect to weight, bearing and shear areas, shape, case of production, ability
to accommodate vertical and horizontal reinforcing stabilizing ties and efficiency of the
interlocking mechanism under imposed loads. As a result, the system developed provides a fast,
easy and an accurate building system Also in Malaysia.
[4] established other interlocking block (Figure 1), hused on the concept of LEGO). Individual
units and identical wall panels have been tested at Universiti Putra Malaysia under varies type
of leading. It has been concluded that the compressive strength of the blocks satisfies the
requirements of the Malaysian standards.
Figure 1. Interlocking Hollow Block System
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 4
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
CHAPTER NO. 3
Structural Behaviour of Interlocking Brick Systems
evaluated the residual compressive and shear strengths of novel “coconut-fibre- reinforced-
concrete” (CFRC) interlocking blocks under dynamic loading. The study concluded that the
CFRC interlocking bricks have sufficient residual capacity after subjection to a dynamic loads
and 15 months of storage. Therefore, the structures of CFRC interlocking bricks have the
capability to sustain and be utilized continually after any seismic events, if the destruction and
harm in blocks are invisible.
Investigated the in plane behavior of the mortarless coconut fibre reinforced concrete
interlocking blocks structures undergone different dynamic loadings. The contents of coconut
fibre were 1% of concrete mass. Four structures elements were prepared (two columns and
two walls both with and without coconut fibre rope) and tested under push over, snap back,
impact, harmonic and earthquake loadings. It was demonstrated that the bending stiffness and
top displacement of the structures with fibre coconut rope were higher than those without
rope. At the same time, damping, energy dissipation, and base shear of the structures with rope
were smaller than those structures without rope. Therefore, the results confirmed that CFRC
interlocking blocks have the potential to be used in regions exposed to any seismic loadings.
Developed an interlocking brick system named Brickcool and then studied the structural
behavior of Brickcool walls as load bearing structure. In according to BS3921 and ASTMC67,
physical and mechanical tests of the brick unit (specifications, compression strength and
absorption of water) were conducted. Randomly 10 bricks unit were picked up and properly
cleaned and then undergone the specification test. The bricks were then laid in a row at the
same level. The units were then placed in the same level of row. Measurement tape was used
to dimension each brick. Same samples were immersed in clean water for twenty four hours
where the weight of the samples before and after immersing were recorded in order to
determine the water absorption. Compression test of ten interlocking bricks were conducted.
The results are shown in Table 1 and Table 2.
In this study, two specimens of load bearing interlocking Brickool wall dimensioned by 1300
mm in height, 1000 mm in length and 125 mm in width were constructed. The first specimen
was prepared with no reinforcement while the second specimen was strengthen with
reinforcement of T10 mm.
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 5
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
Results showed that, the developed brick (Brickool) met the minimum values required by
British and American standards and can be used as load bearing with or without reinforcement.
However, at the top of the specimens, the failure load of wall specimen with bars has higher
value with lower displacementthan the wall specimen without bars. At the same time,
strengthening the wall by reinforcement result in high compression and tension strain.
Table 1. Specification & water absorption of interlocking Brickool.
examined the compressive strength of the wall made of concrete interlocking bricks with
mortar and non-mortar paste. Results showed that the compressive strength of concrete
interlocking bricks with or without mortar were satisfied the minimum compressive strength
required by BS3921:1985 which is 5.2 MPa for the conventional concrete blocks. He concluded
that the compressive strength of concrete interlocking bricks with mortar paste is higher than
the compressive strength of the conventional concrete blocks. Meanwhile, concrete
interlocking bricks increases the compressive strength by 30% when mortar paste was used.
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 6
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
Investigated the behavior of interlocking masonry walls produced from cement, laterite soil and
sand. An experimental tests (physical properties, displacement, and compressive strength) for
block units and unreinforced wall panels were carried out under compression load at different
eccentricities as illustrated on Figure 2.
The results shown in Table 3 indicate that the block is classified as common brick in accordance
to BS 3921 and severe weathering grade in accordance to ASTM C62. The maximum
compressive stress of the unreinforced wall panel is 3.60 N/mm2 witch comply with the
requirement for residential building.
Table 3. Compressive strength test of interlocking masonry walls with different eccentricities
Compression test of ten interlocking bricks were conducted. The results are shown in Table I
and Table 2. In this study, two specimens of load bearing interlocking Brickool wall dimensioned
by 1300 mm in height, 1000 mm in length and 125 mm in width were constructed. The first
specimen was prepared with no reinforcement while the second specimen was strengthen with
reinforcement of T10 mm. Results showed that, the developed brick (Brickool) met the
minimum values required by British and American
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 7
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
standards and can be used as Imad bearing with or without reinforcement. However, at the top
of the specimens, the failure load of wall specimen with bars has higher value with lower
displacement than the wall specimen without bars. At the same time, strengthening the wall by
reinforcement result in high compression and tension strain.
Behaviour of Contact Area Between Brick Layers Due to the absence of mortar and the filling
material between the masonry brick joints, the contact area need to be study with attention.
Also, the dry joint behavior is a vital design parameters that must be measured, for this reason
only compressibility of dry joint should be investigated. Previous studies has conducted tests to
determine the behavior of contact area between brick layers and its effects on the overall
behavior of masonry systems. Ayed et al. [17] used an image analysis method. A plain white
paper weighing 80 g/m² and free of physical or chemical effect on block has been used. The
interface of the interlocking blocks was painted and the white paper between the blocks were
placed to print the contact area (Figure 4). An image analysis was developed on MATLAB in
order to estimate the percentage of the contact surface printed on the paper. It transformed
the image of the printed paper in white and black pixels. Counting of pixels leads to the
percentage of the contact area.
Another recent study used Digital Image Correlation method to investigate the compressibility
of dry joints. Compressive tests on specimens that cut from Magnesia-Carbon mortarless bricks
were carried out. Tests were conducted using a load cell of 200 kN (Figure 5) with an accuracy
of 0.2% of the attained load and 0.0330 mm/minute displacement rate. 2-dimentical digital
image correlation was utilized to measure the dry joint behavior under compression
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 8
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
Similarly, investigated the dry joint closure of the refractory bricks under compression. The
overall purpose of the test was to acquire data on the closure behavior of the dry bed joint
under compression load in order to get a clear image of the stress and the joint situation during
the furnace service cycle. Therefore, the joint closure behavior was monitored in-directly
through the compression of the samples with and without joints in extensive temperature
variety.
CHAPTER NO. 4
Behaviour of Contact Area Between Brick Layers
Due to the absence of mortar and the filling material between the masonry brick joints, the
contact area need to be study with attention. Also, the dry joint behavior is a vital design
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 9
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
parameters that must be measured, for this reason only compressibility of dry joint should be
investigated. Previous studies has
conducted tests to determine the behavior of contact area between brick layers and its effects
on the overall behavior of masonry systems. Ayed et al. [17] used an image analysis method. A
plain white paper weighing 80 g/m2 and free of physical or chemical effect on block has been
used. The interface of the interlocking blocks was painted and the white paper between the
blocks were placed to print the contact area (Figure 4). An image analysis was developed on
MATLAB in order to estimate the
percentage of the contact surface printed on the paper. It transformed the image of the printed
paper in white and black pixels. Counting of pixels leads to the percentage of the contact area.
Another recent study done by Rekik et al. [18] used Digital Image Correlation method to
investigate the compressibility of dry joints. Compressive tests on specimens that cut from
Magnesia-Carbon mortarless bricks were carried out. Tests were conducted using a load cell of
200 kN (Figure 5) with an accuracy of 0.2 % of the attained load and 0.0330 mm/minute
displacement rate. 2-dimentioal digital image correlation was utilized to measure the dry joint
behavior under compression. Similarly, Andreev et al. [19] investigated the dry joint closure of
the refractory bricks under compression. The overall purpose of the test was to acquire data on
the closure behavior of the dry bed
joint under compression load in order to get a clear image of the stress and the joint situation
during the furnace service cycle. Therefore, the joint closure behavior was monitored in-directly
through the compression of the samples with and without joints in extensive temperature
variety.
CHAPTER NO. 5
Conclusion
In conclusion, the interlocking brick development is presented in this study and confirmed that
this system is utilized in masonry structures. Accordingly, the concept of interlocking system
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 10
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
has been widely used as a replacement of the conventional system. It can be concluded that
the shape of the interlocking brick varies with simplicity which result in casy and fast production
and assembly in the masonry systems. Moreover, the interlocking mechanism of all the
different types of interlocking bricks is sufficient to interlock the assembled bricks in different
directions. Based on the researches of the structural behavior of interlocking bricks, it can be
concluded that the interlocking blocks have met the minimum specifications and requirements
as per British and American Standards. Also, it verified that interlocking brick can be utilized
either as load bearing wall or non-load bearing system.
References
[1] Shakir AA and Mohammed AA 2013 Manufacturing of Bricks in the Past, in the Present and
in the Future: A state of the Art Review Int. J. Adv. Appl. Sci 2 145-56
[2] Allen E and Thallon R 2011 Fundamentals of residential construction (John Wiley & Sons)
131 Irwan J. Zamer M and Othman N 2016 A Review on Interlocking Compressed Earth Blocks
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 11
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BRICKS AND ITS’ BEHAVIOUR
(ICER) with Addition of Bacteria. In: MATEC Web of Conf.: EDP Sciences) pp (0-5 141 Korany Y
and Humphrey S 2010 Proc. of the 2nd Masonry Mini Symp
[3] Anand K and Ramamurthy K 2005 Development and evaluation of hollow concrete
interlocking
[4] block masonry system Masonry Soc. J. 23 11-9 Khan S S and Deshmukh A S 2015 Mortarless
Masonry with Interlocking Blocks In: J. Res. Eng. Sci. Technol. 1 314-9 Fay L, Cooper P and de
Morais H F 2014 Innovative interlocked soil-cement block for the
construction of masonry to eliminate the settling mortar Constr Build. Mater 32 391-5 Thanoon
W A, Jaafar M S. Abdul Kadir MR, Abang Ali A A, Trikha D N and Najm AMS 2004 Development
of an innovative interlocking load bearing hollow block system in Malaysia Constr. Build. Mater
APC/CE-6I/2020-21 Page 12
