Design of Interlocking Bricks Beam

Abstract

Interlocking Brick System (IBs) is one of the current technologies used in the construction of load bearing walls. The concepts behind the IBs include the elimination of the mortar layer. The interlocking brick system investigated in this study is load bearing interlocking brick beam system relied on U-shaped hollow bricks in bed row to form beam to transfer load from wall opening. Reinforced concrete grout stiffeners were added in vertical and horizontal directions to enhance the stability and integrity of the beams. Mortar and grout are used as infill material. Generally, in this research, specimens are prepared for full scale testing with different parameters in reinforcement and fillings. The size of interlocking brick is 125 mm x 250 mm x 100 mm and the diameter of reinforcement bar (rebar) used is 12 mm. The dimension of the interlocking bricks beam is 2130 mm length, 125 mm width, and 300 mm height. The arrangement of hollow interlocking brick in bed row will causes a ductile behavior which will be mitigated by the horizontal reinforcement coated by mortar or grout between two layers of hollow brick.