Author
H.C. UZOEGBO and J.V. NGOWI Department of Civil Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract
A series of dry-stack (mortarless) interlocking block wall systems 3m x 2.50m were tested under centric loading. The blocks comprise earth-cement blocks stacked in stretcher bond without mortar. Further tests were also conducted on wall prisms (wallets) consisting of 4 or 8 blocks. A conventional masonry block wall panel of similar unit strength was also tested for comparison. This paper highlights the experimental set-up and reports the failure loads, typical crack patterns and general structural behaviour of the dry-stack walling systems under in-plane loading. The test results were used as a basis for the development of an analytical model for the prediction of the load capacity of the dry-stack systems.