Experimental Study on Effect of Brick and Mortar Types on Mechanical Properties of Masonry Prisms

Brick and mortar are two main materials which have great influence on the behavior of masonry structures. Nowadays, bricks with different shapes, ingredients and strength and mortars with various strength characteristics are used in construction, where this diversity may confuse engineers to choose these two types of materials properly. In this experimental study, using two conventional types of solid and hollow burnt clay bricks in masonry construction of Iran and two types of strong and weak cement-sand mortars, standard tests were performed to determine and to compare the mechanical properties of masonry prisms, including compressive strength and diagonal-tensile (shear) strength and brick-mortar bond properties including flexural tensile and direct shear strengths. The results showed that the compressive strength of brick prism, the diagonal-tensile strength of brick panel, and direct shear strength of brick prism are more sensitive to the type of mortar compared to the shape of brick. Moreover, the flexural tensile bonding properties of brick prisms, due to presence of holes in the bricks and the possible interlocking, is more sensitive to the shape of brick compared to the mortar type. In general, among all the studied cases masonry specimens with hollow bricks and strong mortar have better performance.