PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The present study examines the interaction between concrete and steel plate, particularly on the load bearing capacity of concrete blocks under confinement effects. 12 concrete blocks with the dimensions of 200 mm × 200 mm in cross section and 200 mm high were tested up to failure under compression load through 10 mm thickness of steel bearing plate. A series of experimental testing were performed to determine the maximum load bearing capacity in different sizes of steel plate and to identify the possible failure modes. The experimental data obtained from the experimental investigations were compared with pre-existing experimental data obtained from literature and mathematical formulation in various international standards. Experimental results indicate that the use of larger bearing plate gave higher value of load bearing capacity compared with small bearing plate due to larger contact area, thus, resulting in better effect of confinement. It was found that the concrete blocks fail in the shape of inverse pyramid when the steel plate is placed on top of it. Besides, other failures are vertical cracks and splitting cracks which appeared at the outer edge of contact area.