LITERATURE REVIEW

Abhinandan et al. studied in their paper towards sustainability. The concept of interlocking
brick and its strength parameters are checked by laboratory testing and computations
method. When the comparison of interlocking brick wall with the normal brick wall, the
strength and durability are more. Interlocking brick not only increases strength but also
decreases the quantity of mortar required for bonding of wall units. Further the application
of these type bricks used to reduce the material, reduction in environmental pollution.
When the brick masonry wall is subjected to lateral forces, it fails due to shearing or
overturning as the bonding is weak in horizontal directions.

Abhijit et al. have tried to make a concrete having possible lesser density and higher
compressive strength using waste and eco-friendly material like EPS beads, Rice Husk
Ash, Fly Ash. These three materials are easily available in local market and easy to use.
EPS beads replaced by coarse aggregates and fine aggregate is replaced with fly ash and
rice husk ash. When in concrete mixes with EPS beads are sound and thermal insulation.
With the help of these material the overall cost of the construction is reduced.

Ahmad et al. studied the masonry standard and the compressive strength is basically
dependent on factors such as the mortar strength and the relative values of unit and mortar
strength. Interlocking brick has less use of mortar. Therefore, there is a need to investigate
the behaviour of masonry walls using interlocking bricks. In this study a series of tests have
been conducted; physical properties s and compressive strength of brick units given. The
purpose of the experimental investigations is to obtain the analyze and the behaviour of
masonry walls. The results showed that the brick is categorized as common brick.
Interlocking brick wall have maximum compressive stress about 3.6N/mm2.

Raheem et al. studied the production and testing of lateritic interlocking blocks were
examined. The experiments involved the production of 250 × 130 × 220 mm3 interlocking
blocks with laterite samples using a locally fabricated manual steel mould and a 4.5 kg
rammer. The blocks were tested in the laboratory. The blocks are water absorption and
resistance to abrasion. The results indicated that all blocks are satisfied the minimum 28-
day wet compressive strength of 1.0 Nmm2 and that recommended by Road Research
Institute.

Achal et al. study is based on behaviour of interlocking blocks by using red mud for
different variables. In this paper, the author is attempting to summarize the potential use of
red mud in building materials of its utilization. The attention is to develop an extensive red
mud form framework for building materials industry of India as it has great strength of
reducing the cost of construction material & developing a low-cost housing technique.

Arunachalam et al. define that compressive and tensile strengths of lightweight concrete
of density 1700 kg/m3 to 1800 kg/m3 with different aluminum powder content. Based on
an earlier investigation of the, cement to combined aggregate ratios of 1:6, 1:8, and 1:10
have been selected. Both sand and quarry dust have been tried as fine aggregate. Aluminum
powder was added at 0.2% to 0.8% by weight of cement. For that the ultimate strength of
LWC is of the range between 3N/mm2 – 10.5N/mm2 for different aluminum powder
content. Addition of more than 0.2% of aluminum powder reduces the compressive
strength effectively.

Carrasco et al. deal with technical assessment of the performance of walls constructed with
interlocking bricks of iron ore byproducts and cement under simple compressive loading.
Three walls with dimensions of 150 cm width, 240 cm height and 15 cm thickness were
built and tested. The first opening appears with a stress of 0.56 MPa, corresponding to only
3.8% of the rupture stress of the brick alone. Horizontal displacement was negligible in all
the walls and buckling was not observed. Results showed high compressive strength of
14.57 MPa for bricks, 9.82 MPa of the prisms and 25.2 MPa of the mortar. The walls
showed good mechanical strength of 2.05 MPa, which represents 14% of the brick strength.
Deformations were high. And axial deformation modulus was of 420 MPa, which indicates
a flexible behaviour of the wall. Although the wall is flexible, the fissuration stress is
relatively high. Indicating excellent performance of the wall. Another very positive aspect
is that this stress is only 13.6 % of the compressive strength of the wall and 1.9% of the
brick, which indicates that there is a very large strength reserve.

Bansal Deepak explains that the Indian masonry design standard (IS 1905-1987) does not
deal with dry interlocking block masonry, hence does not prescribe the design values for
this masonry like basic compressive strength, tensile strength & shear strength. This block
masonry by Hydra form interlocking has been tested in the field. Experiment found to have
better strength than the conventional brick masonry using cement sand mortar (1:6). The
basic compressive strength is more than the minimum values given in the Indian masonry
design standard (IS 1905-1987). These blocks have low exemplify energy compared to
burnt clay brick. It is resulting in promotion of green construction technology. The paper
gives the technical specifications and raw material options and many more with the
building standards.

Fay et al. developed a mortarless 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.

Safiee et al. investigated experimentally the behavior of mortarless wall specimens made
of Putra interlocking blocks. Two different wall specimens (hollow and partially grouted)
were constructed with the same sizes of 1000 mm in height, 1200 mm in width and 150
mm in thickness. Both specimens were subjected to lateral load (out of-plane) with constant
pre compression load . Several parameters have been investigated such as carrying capacity
of lateral load, mid-height deflection, failure mode, strain characteristic, and the opening
of the dry bed joint of the wall panel layers. The study revealed that the structural behavior
of the interlocking wall panels under out of plane load were significantly influenced by the
pre compression axial load and the rebar. Moreover, the wall panels were categorized as
load bearing walls.

Due to the absence of mortar and the filling material between the masonry brick joints, the
contact area needs to be studied with attention. Also, the dry joint behavior is a vital design
parameter that must be measured, for this reason only compressibility of dry joint should
be investigated. Previous studies have 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. 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.
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.

Ayed et al. analyzed the effect of contact area and the clearance between the blocks on the
mechanical behavior of interlocking stabilized earth block (ISEB). The ISEBs were placed
dry without grouting and tested under compression load tests to the mechanical behavior
and the contact area effects while, the effect of the local stress around the clearance were
performed by finite element modelling. The ISEB manufactured by red earth, sand, and 8
percent of cement. The compressive tests were conducted on individual block, single joint
which consists of two interlocking blocks, and multiple joints that consists of three
interlocking blocks. As a result, the compressive strength for individual block, two blocks,
and three blocks were 11.9 MPa, 8.2 MPa, and 5.5 MPa, respectively. That means the
contact area and the clearance between the blocks influence the masonry’s compressive
strength, causing it to decrease.

Jaafar et al. investigated the behavior of the dry joints of interlocking masonry subjected
to axial compression load and consequently their impacts on the structural behavior of
prisms made of mortarless interlocking blocks in both grouted and un-grouted. The
structural behavior of the contacting area between bricks layer (dry joint) were evaluated
by conducting single and multiple joints tests with the consideration of geometric
inadequacies in that faces. The results showed that, geometric imperfections were
significantly affected the behavior of the dry bed joint between the brick layers. Verities of
deformation forms were identified in both grouted and un-grouted mortarless interlocking
prisms. In the un-grouted prism, the deformation was undertaken place till the applied
compression lad reaches 0.57 of the max. loads. Dry bed joint was mainly affected the
deformation of un-grouted prism till the compression load reaches 0.570 of the determined
loads. However, this behavior was not commonly happened in the early loading of the
grouted prisms where it commenced only when 0.380 of the max. loads was applied.
Furthermore, grouted prisms achieved high strength and lower deformation compared with
the un-grouted prisms.
Y.H. Lee et al. An experimental investigation on innovative interlocking block
columns was studied. The failure of the column was found always be the longitudinal
cracks that along loading direction which indicated the interlocking block failure due
to relatively low lateral strain capacity. Pearson and partial correlation analysis
showed the infills significant correlation with column strength. Comparison has been
made between experimental results, BS EN1992-1-1 and MSJC design
specifications. A reduction factor of 0.8 was introduced for grout and mortar as infill
materials, while for the Eurocode design the infill material was still concrete. For
MJSC design specifications, the test results were well-validated for the test specimens
with mortar and concrete as the infill materials. Resulting from the nature of the
size of the interlocking blocks, a slender or long column will be difficult to achieve.
Therefore, the proposed reduction factor is not required when applying further
reduction factors to counter the buckling stress of the column. The reduction in
construction time and skilled workers make this innovative construction available in
the industry and should be promoted in the future.