Masonry is a historical construction material which is cost effective, has high fire and acoustics resistance and endures low maintenance cost. Due to recent decline in masonry trade in terms of skilful masons, masonry is losing its share from the construction market. The industry is revolutionising modern masonry by making it interlocking based on LEGO concept by removing mortar layers. This will result in increased sustainability of masonry construction in lesser time and cost without the need of joining the blocks with mortar layers. However, for adoption of this masonry by contractors and design engineers in construction, there are no design codes and construction specs available. The Concrete Masonry Association Australia (CMAA) has provided scholarships for PhD students to test this type of masonry and develop guidelines. The goal of this research is to test small and full-scale mortarless walls made of interlocking blocks available in Australia and develop analytical specifications and design equations for adoption in Australian Masonry Design Standards (AS3700).
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Duration: April 2024- Ongoing Research Methods:
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QUT :
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