Effects influencing the compressive strength of a solid, fired clay brick

Abstract

The aim of the paper was to analyze the effect of the different influencing factors on the compressive strength of a solid, clay brick. The effect of the surface polishing, the height, width and length of the specimens, the type of the sampling (drilled or cut) and the effect of the production technology were studied. Though being the moisture content of the specimen an important factor, it was not examined herein. More than 110 brick specimens were tested using two different types of measuring procedures: standard (destructive) compressive tests and Schmidt hammer (non-destructive) tests were carried out. Formulae were proposed for determining the normalized mean compressive strength from every possible type of specimens that were adequate for testing in case of this type of unit. It was found that the behaviour of the brick is orthotropic. It was proved that the effect of the height of the specimen has the most significant effect on the compressive strength. A linear relationship was found between the normalized mean compressive strength and the Young's modulus of the brick in each direction. © Periodica Polytechnica 2011.