Author
A.L.M. MAUROOF and M. QAMARUDDIN Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

Abstract
In general, masonry construction in developing countries uses burnt clay bricks. Many are distorted due to manufacturing faults but they are used because they are cheaper. This study is aimed at finding the stress distribution in brick walls made of such bricks. Two different configurations are considered, A stretcher bond configuration with curved brick can be treated as a combination of these two models. Linear elastic finite element analysis was carried out to determine the stress distribution in the pre-cracking domain. The horizontal tensile stresses on the curved brick models are much higher than those for the straight brick. Thus it can be concluded that the failure mode initiated by vertical cracking occurs at an earlier stage of loading with curved bricks.