Design of a new type of interlocking brick and evaluation of its dynamic performance

Despite the increasing interest in topological interlocking structures made of identical elements, only one type of interlocking brick has been extensively studied so far, with very limited focus on their dynamic behaviour. In this paper, a new design of interlocking brick was proposed, which had a symmetrical geometry with four curved side surfaces to be interlocked with adjacent elements. The dynamic mechanical behavior of the new brick was numerically investigated and compared to that of the existing interlocking brick and the monolithic plate. The deformation patterns and the energy absorption capacity of interlocking structures were also studied. The results showed that the newly designed interlocking brick had intermediate contact forces and much more uniform load and stress distribution during the impact. Moreover, its energy absorption capacity was the largest.