Author
ESSY A. BASOENONDO 1), DAVID P. THAMBIRATNAM 2) and HERU PURNOMO 3) 1) Post Graduate Student, Physical Infrastructure Centre, School of Civil Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD 4001, Australia (e.basoenondo@student.qut.edu.au or essy@eng.ui.ac.id) 2) Professor at School of Civil Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD 4001, Australia (d.thambiratnam@qut.edu.au) 3) Senior Lecturer at Civil Engineering Department, University of Indonesia, Depok 16424, Indonesia (herupur@eng.ui.ac.id)

Abstract
Non-standard clay bricks are commonly used in constructing low-rise buildings and rural houses especially in under developed and developing countries despite their low quality, performance and aesthetics. The bricks are considered as non-standard with non-uniform material properties. These locally produced bricks are popular as they are easy to find, simple to construct and relatively cheap compared to other building materials, though their poor performance during earthquakes is well known. A research project was therefore undertaken with the aim of improving the lateral load response of such masonry structures and this paper reports the preliminary investigation of the brick properties. A set of laboratory tests was carried out on 19 column specimens size 195mm x 195mm x 270mm, bonded by 0.95:1:4 of water:cement:natural sand mortar under compressive loading. The outcome of this preliminary research indicated that brick masonry elements using non-standard bricks cannot be simply treated as a homogeneous material and their performance and properties vary widely.

Key words
Masonry column, solid clay bricks, compressive loadin