Author
CH V UDAY VYAS(1) and B V VENKATARAMA REDDY(2)
(1) Research Scholar, Dept., of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
(2) Associate Professor, Dept., of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India

Abstract
Masonry is a layered composite consisting of masonry unit and mortar. Perfect bond between the unit and the mortar is essential for the masonry to behave as one single entity in order to resist the stresses due to different types of loads. This paper focuses on certain issues related to shear bond strength and masonry compressive strength. Masonry compressive strength has been determined by varying the shear bond strength between the masonry unit and the mortar for the two cases of block stiffer than mortar and vice-versa. Shear bond strength is varied using artificial techniques without altering the characteristics of mortar and the block. The results indicate that compressive strength of masonry prisms increases as the shear bond strength increases when the mortar is stiffer than the block. Improving shear bond strength does not improve the masonry prism strength when the block is stiffer than that of the mortar.