Study of the compressive strength and behaviour of concrete blockwork masonry with special reference to reinforced columns

In recent years great advances have taken place in the use of masonry in building construction. Where as the number of storeys has increased substantially, the thickness of the wall has decreased. An important factor in the development of masonry structures was the introduction of the concrete block in the early 1900's. This added a new dimension to the construction and design of masonry structures. Greater flexibility was provided by the use of hollow, filled and solid blocks utilising different colours, shapes and texture for interior and exterior masonry elements. The use of hollow blocks provided the advantage of using reinforced concrete filled masonry elements without the need for formwork. Reinforced blockwork masonry consists of four component materials, namely the concrete block, mortar, concrete inf ill and reinforcement. These four materials give masonry non-homogeneous properties compared to those of concrete. Differences in the mechanical properties of the four materials, the wide variety of block units available of different shapes and geometry, and the direction in which the masonry element is loaded all have an affect on the strength and behaviour of the masonry structure. This present investigation consists of experimental and theoretical studies of the effects of masonry nonhomogeneity and of using different concrete inf ill and mortar types on the compressive strength and behaviour of blockwork masonry prisms compressed axially in two directions, normal and parallel to the bed face. Methods are suggested to determine the ultimate compressive strength of blockwork masonry f 'm• Finally the study investigates the effect of using different percentages of lateral and vertical reinforcement on the ultimate strength and behaviour of reinforced concrete blockwork masonry columns. A new method of predicting the ultimate strength of reinforced concrete blockwork masonry columns subjected to axial compression is proposed.

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