Mechanical behaviour of composite structures made of topologically interlocking concrete bricks with soft interfaces

In this study, the mechanical responses of an assembly plate made of topologically interlocking concrete bricks with rubber as soft interfaces are investigated. The principle of topological interlocking is combined with the concept of hybrid material design. A series of quasi-static tests are conducted to compare the mechanical behaviour of the hybrid interlocking assembly plate with those obtained from the monolithic plate and the interlocking assembly plate without soft interfaces. The results show that the hybrid assembly plate has a remarkable flexural compliance with less damage in the bricks compared to the other two. The effect of lateral confining load on the structural behaviour of the hybrid interlocking assembly plate is also investigated. In addition, a 3D numerical model is established to predict the overall behaviour, failure mode and the damage distributions of the hybrid assembly plate. Then the hybrid assembly plate under various lateral confining loads and with different friction factors between rubber and bricks is studied numerically. It is found that, although the maximum transverse force is influenced by the initial confining load and the friction factor, the mechanical behaviour of the hybrid structure is consistent in large deformation.