PSI - Issue 47

Noorsuhada Md Nor et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 47 (2023) 732–743 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

742

11

Fig. 11. The failure of the interlocking block at the mid-span

The damage of the hollow interlocking block was also observed with the ABAQUS model using the displacement contour, as shown in Fig. 10. The crack pattern of the interlocking block observed visually in Fig. 11 matches the displacement contour in the ABAQUS model in Fig. 12. As can be seen in this figure, the shape of the displacement contour indicates a high stress concentration in the lower part of the interlocked concrete block generated at this location.

Fig. 12. High stress concentration at the bottom part of the interlocking concrete block subjected to flexural loading.

4. Conclusion This study presented the behaviour of solid and one-hollow interlocking blocks made from recycled concrete aggregate. Several conclusions were addressed: a. The compressive strength of the cubes made from 50% RCA and 50% sand increased as the age of the cubes increased, with a maximum strength of 34.54 MPa after 28 days. b. The flexural strength of the solid block and the one-hollow block with 50% RCA is higher at 28 days than at 7 and 14 days. The strength and ultimate load of the solid concrete block is higher than that of the one-hollow concrete block with a value of 5.33 N/mm 2 and 14455.23 N respectively. This is because the solid block has higher overall stiffness and greater ability to resist bending under load. In contrast, the presence of voids in