EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON THE TORSION-SHEAR BEHAVIOUR AT THE INTERFACES OF INTERLOCKING MASONRY BLOCK ASSEMBLAGES

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the initial shear (cohesion) and torsion-shear strengths at the interface of an interlocking masonry block. An interlocking block is a rigid unit with locks avoiding the block to slide. This improves the seismic response of dry jointed assemblages of masonry structures subjected to in-plane and out-of-plane loading. The experimental investigation is designed and carried out for the corrugated interface having one lock with rectangular cross section, i.e. the specimen is an interlocking unit composed of a main body and a lock located on the upper face of the main body. Cement-based mortars are selected to reproduce the specimen, casted using a mould provided by a 3D printer, and both the lock and the main body are kept rigid during the tests. The initial shear and torsion-shear capacities of the interface at which the lock is connected to the main body are assessed together with its quasi-brittle fracture and registered in terms of load-displacement curves. In the designed setup, the horizontal force is applied to the rigid lock until it is disjointed from the rigid main body of the block, while the effect of rocking during the shear test is avoided. The force and the displacements are measured using a load cell and Linear Variable Displacement Transducers (LVDTs), respectively. The experimental programme includes four different sets with different load application points and different load directions, each set repeated on a number of similar specimens. Empirical formulations between the initial shear and compressive strengths of the lock interface are also evaluated.