Abstract
The construction of a structure is prohibitively expensive due to high material and labour expenses. Still, the production of cement, which is the most widely used binding substance in construction, results in the emission of a large amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. It has only recently been discovered that Pakistan is short of approximately 9 million residential constructions. Thus, there is a great need for cost-effective and energy-efficient masonry construction because of economic and environmental concerns. Rat-trap masonry bond creates a cavity in the wall, which serves as both thermal insulation and a cost-saving measure. Because of the inherent property of rat-trap masonry bond, a cavity is formed in the wall, which not only serves as thermal insulation for the interior but is also cost-effective It has been observed that approximately 26.11 % of the total construction cost, comprising of labor and material, can be curtailed by adopting the rat-trap bonding technique. Rat-trap bond construction is recognized as a greener and more sustainable alternative to conventional brick bonds. A comparative study of the structural behavior of the rat-trap and conventionally used English bond has been conducted. 72 prisms of rat-trap bond and English bond from three sources of bricks were tested under compression load at the ages of 28 and 56 days. The same number of prisms were tested under diagonal tension load at both ages. 18 triplet prisms from all sources of bricks were tested for shear bond strength without lateral load, whereas 5 triplet prisms from every brick source were tested with a set of lateral pre-compression loading of 29 psi, 87 psi, and 145 psi. The results show that the rat-trap bond has much higher compressive and shear strengths than the English bond.