• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.6
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• pp.689-699
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• 2021

The present study aims to understand the behaviour of low-strength masonry prisms constructed with locally-produced low-strength hollow concrete blocks. Compression tests were conducted on masonry prisms constructed with three different mortar grades of cement-sand ratios of 1:3, 1:4.5 and 1:6 representing strong, moderately strong and weak mortar. Stress-strain curves were generated from the test results for the masonry prisms. The hollow concrete masonry units employed in this study are some of the weakest as compared to other masonry units employed by other researchers. The compressive strengths for masonry prisms with mortar grades 1:3, 1:4.5 and 1:6 are 2.21 MPa, 2.19 MPa and 2.25 MPa respectively. The results indicate that the masonry compressive strength of such low-strength hollow concrete block masonry prisms is not influenced by the mortar strength. Simple relationships to estimate the modulus of elasticity and compressive strength of masonry prisms is also proposed.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.375-389
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• 2024

Installing wiring or plumbing fixtures necessitates creating chases within masonry walls, which, while serving practical purposes, raises a crucial concern regarding the potential compromise of the masonry's structural integrity. Given these concerns, it becomes essential to thoroughly understand the impact of incorporating chases on masonry strength. In this study, 37 AAC masonry prisms (200×330×100 mm³) were cast and tested for compression. The prisms were equipped with chases of various depths -10 mm, 20 mm and 30 mm; and orientations (horizontal, inclined, and vertical), which were then filled with mortar using 1:2, 1:4, and 1:6 cement-to-sand ratios. The primary objectives were to assess the strength decrease in the prisms with different chase characteristics compared to a control specimen and to determine the percentage strength increase due to filling materials compared to unfilled chases. Key findings indicate that as chase depth increases, there is a substantial reduction in prism strength. However, the orientation of the chase does not significantly affect strength reduction. Importantly, filling the chases with mortar leads to a significant increase in prism strength. This study not only unveils the complex impact of chase characteristics on masonry strength but also emphasizes the crucial role of filling materials in strengthening these prisms.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 2021

Concrete masonry prisms are strengthened with steel fiber-reinforced mortar (SFRM) overlay and tested for compressive and diagonal tension strength. Masonry prisms are produced in poor condition considering standard workmanship for masonry buildings in Korea. Amorphous steel fibers are adopted for SFRM, and appropriate mixing ratios of SFRM are derived considering constructability and strength. Masonry prisms are strengthened with different fiber volume ratios, while numerous strengthened faces and additional reinforcing meshes are produced for compression and diagonal tension tests. Compression and diagonal tension strength are increased by up to 122% and 856%, respectively, and the enhancement effect for diagonal tension strength was superior compared to compression strength. Finally, the test results and strength prediction equations based on existing literature and regression analysis are compared.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.127-136
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• 2020

Prism compressive strength is the most influential parameter to evaluate the seismic performance of non-structural concrete brick masonry walls, and is affected by the practice and workmanship of masonry workers. This study experimentally investigates the influence of workmanship on prism compressive strength throughout the compressive test with prism specimens constructed according to masonry workmanship. To do this, the workmanship is categorized into good, fair, and poor conditions which are statistically evaluated with thickness and indentation depth of bed-joints. Then, the effect of workmanship on the structural properties of masonry prisms is evaluated by investigating relations between properties such as their compressive strength, elastic modulus and numerical parameters such as thickness, filling of bed-joints. This study demonstrates that the indentation depth is more important parameter for structural properties of masonry prisms and masonry prisms with loss in bed-joint area less than of 7% can be in fair condition.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2012

This paper presents the details of studies conducted on hollow concrete block masonry (HCBM) units and wall panels. This study includes, compressive strength of unit block, ungrouted and grouted HCB prisms, flexural strength evaluation, testing of HCBM panels with and without opening. Non-linear finite element (FE) analysis of HCBM panels with and without opening has been carried out by simulating the actual test conditions. Constant vertical load is applied on the top of the wall panel and then lateral load is applied in incremental manner. The in-plane deformation is recorded under each incremental lateral load. Displacement ductility factors and response reduction factors have been evaluated based on experimental results. From the study, it is observed that fully grouted and partially reinforced HCBM panel without opening performed well compared to other types of wall panels in lateral load resistance and displacement ductility. In all the wall panels, shear cracks originated at loading point and moved towards the compression toe of the wall. The force reduction factor of a wall panel with opening is much less when compared with fully reinforced wall panel with no opening. The displacement values obtained by non-linear FE analysis are found to be in good agreement with the corresponding experimental values. The influence of mortar joint has been included in the stress-strain behaviour as a monolith with HCBM and not considered separately. The derived response reduction factors will be useful for the design of reinforced HCBM wall panels subjected to lateral forces generated due to earthquakes.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.20-27
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• 2021

The present study presents a nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) approach using the general program of Abaqus to evaluate the seismic response of unreinforced masonry walls strengthened with the steel bar truss system developed in the previous investigation. For finite element models of masonry walls, the concrete damaged plasticity (CDP) and meso-scale methods were considered on the basis of the stress-strain relationships under compression and tension and shear friction-slip relationship of masonry prisms proposed by Yang et al. in order to formulate the interface characteristics between brick elements and mortars. The predictions obtained from the FEA approach were compared with test results under different design parameters; as a result, a good agreement could be observed with respect to the crack propagation, failure mode, rocking strength, peak strength, and lateral load-displacement relationship of masonry walls. Thus, it can be stated that the proposed FEA approach shows a good potential for designing the seismic strengthening of masonry walls.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.231-242
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• 2016

The major problem of a coal combustion-based power plant is that it creates large quantity of solid wastes. So, to achieve the gainful use of waste materials and to avoid other environmental problems, this study was undertaken. The quantity of coal ash by-products, particularly coal fly ash and coal bottom ash has been increasing from the coal power plants around the world. The other objective of this study was to explore the possibility of utilization of coal ash in the production of ash bricks. In 15 different mixes, Mix Designation M-1 to M-15, the varying percentages of lime and gypsum were used and sand was replaced with coal bottom ash. Further, it has been noticed that the water absorption and compressive strength of mix M-15 is 13.36% and 7.85 MPa which is better than the conventional bricks. The test results of this investigation show that the prism strength of coal ash masonry prisms was more than that of the conventional bricks.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.283-291
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• 2018

This study intends to develop an analytical model of unreinforced masonry(URM) walls for the nonlinear static analysis which has been generally used to evaluate the seismic performance of a building employing URM walls as seismic force-resisting members. The developed model consists of fiber elements used to capture the flexural behavior of an URM wall and a shear spring element implemented to predict its shear response. This paper first explains the configuration of the proposed model and describes how to determine the modeling parameters of fiber and shear spring elements based on the stress-strain curves obtained from existing experimental results of masonry prisms. The proposed model is then verified throughout the comparison of its nonlinear static analysis results with the experimental results of URM walls carried out by other researchers. The proposed model well captures the maximum strength, the initial stiffness, and their resulting load - displacement curves of the URM walls with reasonable resolution. Also, it is demonstrated that the analysis model is capable of predicting the failure modes of the URM walls.