Laboratory Test Report, Direct Shear Test of

the Habitech Interlocking Bricks

Laboratory Test Report
This document presents the results of direct shear test of the interlocking bricks based
on the test performed last 20 August 2014.

15 September 2014
Report for:

Prashak Techno Enterprises

India
2014

Laboratory Test Report, Direct Shear Test of

the Habitech Interlocking Bricks

Laboratory Test Report

This document presents the results of direct shear test of the interlocking bricks based
on the test performed last 20 August 2014.

15 September 2014

Report for:

Prashak Techno Enterprises

India

Laboratory Test Report

Direct Shear Test of the Soil-Cement Interlocking Bricks

Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 4

1.1 Objective .............................................................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Purpose and Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 4
1.2.1 Purpose ..........................................................................................................................................4
1.2.2 Shear Strength ...............................................................................................................................4
1.2.3 Significance of the Shear Strength .................................................................................................4
1.2.4 Factors affecting shear strength .....................................................................................................4
1.2.5 Test Specimens .............................................................................................................................4
Chapter 2. Apparatus and Materials ........................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Loaded Area ........................................................................................................................................ 5
2.2 Procedure ............................................................................................................................................ 5
2.2.1 Placing the specimens in the testing machine................................................................................5
2.2.2 Loading ..........................................................................................................................................6
Chapter 3. Results, Observations, and Conclusion .................................................................................... 7
3.1 Observations........................................................................................................................................ 7
3.2 Test Result and Calculation ................................................................................................................. 7
3.3 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 8

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Laboratory Test Report

Direct Shear Test of the Soil-Cement Interlocking Bricks

Chapter 1.
1.1

Introduction

Objective
To determine the initial shear strength of the interlocking

1.2

Purpose and Discussion

1.2.1

Purpose
The purpose of the test was to determine in-plane shear strength of horizontal bed joints in
masonry. The specimens were tested in double shear under three-point load with precompression perpendicular to the bed joints. The shear strength is defined by the initial shear
strength and the coefficient of friction.

1.2.2

Shear Strength
Shear strength is the maximum shear force per unit area which a material can withstand before
breaking.

1.2.3

Significance of the Shear Strength

Shear strength of the masonry joint is directly related to its lateral load carrying capacity. Some
of the failure modes in lateral loads are: bed joint sliding, rocking, diagonal cracking and so forth.
The higher the shear strength capacity of the brick joint, the higher the lateral load capacity is
expected to be.

1.2.4

Factors affecting shear strength

The compressive strength of the interlocking brick is affected by various factors such as:

1.2.5

i.

Strength of interlocking- higher interlocking strength yields higher shear strength value.

ii.

Pre-compression loading: Higher pre-compression loading equates to higher shear

strength and vice versa.

Test Specimens
Nine test specimens, all with dimensions of 300x300x100 mm, were prepared and cured 7 days.
Specimens were tested by applying three pre-compression loadings: three specimens for each
pre-compression.

Figure 1-1: Specimen for direct shear test

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Laboratory Test Report

Direct Shear Test of the Soil-Cement Interlocking Bricks

Chapter 2.

Apparatus and Materials

The following apparatus and materials were used during the test:

2.1

Pneumatic Jack: Load was applied on the wall unit through a 50-ton capacity
Pneumatic Jack.

Stiff threaded rod: Applied through tightening of the bolts attached to stiff thread rods,
and evenly distributed through fabrication plates on the two edges of the specimen.
Compression loading was monitored through a load cell. Setup is shown in Figure 2-1.

Load Cell: Pre-compression load was monitored by using load cell set up.

Steel Plate: Steel plate that perfectly fits on the brick surface was used to uniformly
distribute the pre-compression loadings, as shown in Figure 2-2.

Loaded Area
The shearing surface area was the twice the net surface area of the brick unit. The calculated
shearing surface area is 78438 mm2.

Figure 2-1: Preparation of the surface and calculation of the shear area.

2.2

Procedure

2.2.1

Placing the specimens in the testing machine

The specimen was placed on two point support with the brick joint perpendicular to the ground
surface. The loading was applied on the middle brick unit through the pneumatic jack though a
steel plate, to uniformly distribute the loads. The pre-compression was applied in perpendicular
direction to the brick joint and monitored by load cell. The complete test setup is shown in Figure
2-2.

Figure 2-2: Test setup for Direct Shear Test

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Laboratory Test Report

Direct Shear Test of the Soil-Cement Interlocking Bricks

2.2.2

Loading
The test was conducted on 9 specimens using 3 pre-compression loadings, 3 specimens for each
pre-compression loading. Pre-compression loadings of .02 MPa, 0.3 MPa and 0.5 MPa were
applied through load cell. The shear strength was applied through the pneumatic jack until
failure.

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Laboratory Test Report

Direct Shear Test of the Soil-Cement Interlocking Bricks

Chapter 3.
3.1

Results, Observations, and Conclusion

Observations
The brick developed the first crack at around 19 KN. The specimen failed in joint sliding at an
average loading of 22 KN.

Figure 3-1: Sliding of the middle block due to shear failure of the interlocking

3.2

Test Result and Calculation

Direct shear strength of specimens were calculated through equation 1.

v =

Maximum Load

(1)

Shearing Surface

The table below summarizes the test result of the 9 specimens.

Table 3-1: Test summary results

Specimen
Number

Shearing
Surface
(mm2)

Pre-compression
(MPa)

Maximum Load
(N)

Direct Shear
Strength
(Mpa)

78438.00

0.02

22955.40

0.29

78333.94

0.02

27468.00

0.35

78593.78

0.02

22563.00

0.29

78600.06

0.30

29822.40

0.38

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Laboratory Test Report

Direct Shear Test of the Soil-Cement Interlocking Bricks

Specimen
Number

Shearing
Surface
(mm2)

Pre-compression
(MPa)

Maximum Load
(N)

Direct Shear
Strength
(Mpa)

78868.49

0.30

27075.60

0.34

78340.64

0.30

31195.80

0.40

78395.26

0.50

24525.00

0.31

78950.43

0.50

24525.00

0.31

78963.36

0.50

34335.00

0.43

The average shear strength for each pre-compression loading was plotted against the
corresponding pre-compression loading. The graph was extended to the zero pre-compression
loading to find the initial shear strength of the brick interlocking.

Figure 3-2: Plot of the shear strength against the pre-compression loading
The characteristic value of the initial shear strength was at v where v = 0.8v and the
characteristic angle of internal friction k= 0.8tan.

3.3

Conclusion
The shear strength of the brick interlocking was determined to be 0.29 MPa and the angle of
internal friction was found to be at 4.76 degrees. The characteristic value of the initial shear
strength was determined to be 0.8*0.29= 0.232 MPa and the characteristic value of the angle of
internal friction was found to be at 3.81 degrees.

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