STRENGTH OF REINFORCED BRICK - MASONRY FOOTINGS

Abstract

Plain brick masonry has bean widely used in compression members since quite a long time. With the use of cement mortar and steel, reinforced masonry also found its place in slabs and lintels etc. Recent studies on masonry have highlighted its structural potentiality. Because of its economy and other advantages, Reinforced Brick Masonry is now increasingly used in columns and boundry and retaining walls etc. However, its use in the footings is yet to be explored. The object of this dissertation was to study the strength of reinforced brick masonry stepped beams and footings for exploring its use in the wall and column footings. To avoid the complications of soil-structure interaction and to make the analysis easy, stepped beams cantilevered on either side of central pedestal and square stepped footing were tested in their inverted position under known loads. The study shows that the behaviour of stepped beams and footings is similar to R.C.C. and these can be designed on Working Stress Method with appropriate .strength values. However, the shear strength of masonry being low is often critical and may govern the design.