Author
F. M. KHALAF Napier University, Edinburgh

Abstract
A triplet test without precompression is being proposed as a standard test for the determination of the shear strength of masonry bed joints. The testing of triplet specimens without precompression simultaneously in two directions requires careful set-up of a heavy specimen and shearing of two brick/mortar interfaces. In this paper, a new specimen and test set-up is proposed which allows the determination of bond shear strength without precompression, t0 by a simple bending test which creates shear failure by torsion at a single brick/mortar interface. The paper also proposes using a relatively simple apparatus to derive values for the coefficient of friction, p.