Gooch, Lewis J., Masia, Mark J., Stewart, Mark G., and Spadari, Michele (2025) Experimental characterisation of the friction coefficient of mortar bed joints in clay-brick masonry. Construction and Building Materials, 489. 142348.

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Abstract

Understanding the characteristics of material properties is an important aspect of the design of new, and assessment of existing, structures. Furthermore, the development of accurate statistical models of these properties is critical to a reliability-based assessment of structures. Examining the properties of masonry materials has been the subject of many publications, but few consider the friction behaviour of the brick-mortar interface under shear loading. This paper presents an extensive repetitive laboratory testing study where the residual friction responses of a range of extruded (perforated), pressed (frogged) and solid clay bricks have been observed under direct shear loading at various levels of pre-compressive normal stress. The sensitivity of this friction resistance to the interlocking mechanisms of extruded and pressed brick masonry, as well as the amount of normal stress, has been considered, facilitating the determination of a suitable probabilistic model of the friction coefficient. It was determined that the residual friction coefficient of clay-brick masonry can be accurately approximated with a Normal (Gaussian) distribution, and is comparably variable to the masonry compression strength, with a coefficient of variation equal to 0.14. Furthermore, the influence that pre-existing, tension induced cracking has on the friction coefficient has been examined. It was found that tension-induced cracks do not significantly affect the residual friction coefficient.

Item ID:	87638
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	0950-0618
Keywords:	Clay-brick masonry; Shear strength; Friction; Structural reliability; Probability
Copyright Information:	© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Funders:	Australian Research Council (ARC)
Projects and Grants:	ARC DP220102758
Date Deposited:	03 Sep 2025 00:10
FoR Codes:	40 ENGINEERING > 4005 Civil engineering > 400510 Structural engineering @ 100%
SEO Codes:	12 CONSTRUCTION > 1203 Construction materials performance and processes > 120301 Cement and concrete materials @ 50% 12 CONSTRUCTION > 1203 Construction materials performance and processes > 120305 Stone, ceramics and clay materials @ 50%
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