Article Published In Vol.1 (Nov-Dec-2013)

Effect of Plastering on Clay Brick Masonry Behavior Using Tagushi Method

Author : Nasser, A.A

Clay brick is used as infill buildings partitions. Plastering these infill walls may be postponed or eliminated. The effect and optimization of using interface overlays on masonry behavior was investigated by using Taguchi method as a new technique in experimental design. The experimental studies were conducted using different types of brick in order to study the masonry behavior. Two control factors were taken into consideration; number of mortar interface overlays (A) and clay brick type (B). Nine walls were constructed and tested under compressive loading. Longitudinal Strain of each wall was recorded under loading. The data was analyzed, two mortar overlays and brick type 1 wall has the best performance. Analysis of Variance of experimented walls showed high contribution of plastering compared with brick type. It was concluded that plastering the walls from both sides enhanced the behavior of the walls. One mortar overlay decreases the compressive loading of wall.

Keywords: Clay Brick, Masonry, Tagushi Method, Compressive strength, Plastering, Mortar Interface.