Lateral Behavior of Mortarless Masonry with a Simpler Interlock Configuration of Bricks and a Few Strengthening Measures

Construction of masonry buildings is a relatively slow process, particularly in the context of the very quick requirements in the construction industry in many developed as well as developing countries like China, Japan, the UK, and Italy. However, India and many other developing countries are not in a position to completely eliminate these masonry buildings from the viewpoint of many socioeconomic issues. An alternate way is to use interlocking bricks, leading to mortarless masonry. In fact, previous efforts have been made in this direction. However, the previous propositions didn’t become popular because the form works proposed for making interlocking bricks were complicated, which makes them difficult to be constructed in remote places; thus, the assembly of such bricks also becomes a bit complicated. In this context, the present study proposes a simple configuration of interlocking bricks and observes the performance of such mortarless masonry made of these proposed interlocking bricks, along with viable strengthening measures, experimentally. The performance is compared with traditional masonry made with mortar. From the comparison of shear capacity, flexural strength, shear modulus, and ductility, it is observed that these mortarless interlocking bricks are performing in a superior way. The lateral behavior studied in this paper gives a broad idea about the seismic performance of the same. Further, it has been explained that the use of mortarless masonry may help in reducing pollution due to the production of a lesser CO2 equivalent, as elaborated. Thus, it has the potential for making quick construction of housing units in a short time.