solid burnt bricks’ tensile strength

This paper deals with experimental testing of solid burnt bricks and mortar in pure (axial) tension. The obtained working diagrams will be further use for a detailed numerical analysis of whole brick masonry column under concentric compressive load. Failure mechanism of compressed brick masonry column is characterized by the appearance and development of vertical tensile cracks in masonry units (bricks) passing in the direction of principal stresses and is accompanied by progressive growth of horizontal deformations. These cracks are caused by contraction and interaction between two materials with different mechanical characteristics (brick and mortar). The aim of this paper is more precisely describe the response of quasi-brittle materials to uniaxial loading in tension (for now only the results from three point bending test are available). For these reasons, bricks and mortar tensile behavior is experimentally tested and the obtained results are discussed.