Mechanical Properties of Low-Performance Concrete (LPC) and Shear Capacity of Old Unreinforced LPC Squat Walls

Low-performance concrete (LPC) is characterized by its low strength and commonly by the presence of large aggregates. This type of concrete was used for construction of load carrying, commonly unreinforced walls in old buildings. The resistance of these buildings with LPC squat walls (of relatively low height-to-length ratio), to in plane horizontal loads, was experimentally investigated in this study. The low compressive strength of these walls, well below that of standard concrete, requires estimation of the relation between the actual LPC compressive strength and its tensile strength, and identification of their failure mode and corresponding shear capacity when subjected to in plane horizontal loads. In this study, compressive and splitting tensile strengths of authentic LPC specimens were measured, and based on them, a relation between the compressive and tensile strengths is proposed. Then, diagonal compression tests were performed on authentic LPC specimens, as well as specimens made of standard concrete. These tests yielded the expected mode of failure of vertical cracking and their analysis shows that their shear capacity needs to be evaluated based on their tensile strength (rather than the flexural shear capacity of unreinforced concrete beams). Thus, the load-bearing (both horizontal and gravitational) capacity to prevent diagonal tension failure of an unreinforced LPC wall can be evaluated by comparing the LPC tensile strength to the major principal stress caused by the load. Assessment of the tensile strength can be based on the relation between the compressive and tensile strengths proposed in this work.

The Effect of Transversal Connection in the in-Plane Response of Double-Leaf Brick Masonry Walls

The evaluation of structural safety derives from the knowledge of material properties. In case of existent masonry building, the definition of reliable mechanical parameters could be a very difficult task to be achieved. For this reason, an estimation of these values is useful, for example it is the first phase of the knowledge process, for simplified mechanical model or when NTD test is the only possibility.The transversal connection in masonry panels is a technological detail that affects the static and seismic behavior and could significantly increase the strength of the element.In this paper the effect of transversal connection in double-leaf brickwork masonry panels is evaluated by diagonal compression tests. To achieve this goal, a new set-up was designed to load each leaf independently.The results have shown an increment of about 20% in strength if transversal connection is present. If the leaves have very different mechanical parameters, the tests highlight an unexpected behavior.

Lateral Strength Evaluation of Ferrocement Strengthened Masonry Infilled RC frame Based on Experimentally Observed Failure Mechanisms

In developing countries, lateral strengthening of seismically vulnerable masonry infilled RC buildings is one of the major concern. In this context, ferrocement can be used as a low cost and less labor-intensive strengthening scheme for those buildings. This study aims to experimentally identify major failure mechanisms, and to develop a lateral strength evaluation procedure of ferrocement strengthened masonry infilled RC frame. Subsequently, ductility of all of the identified major failure mechanisms is compared. Mainly four major failure mechanisms (i.e. overall flexural, column punching-joint sliding, diagonal compression, and diagonal cracking-sliding) are identified from the current experimental work and past experimental studies. The strength evaluation procedure, based on the identified failure mechanisms, is proposed and verified with an average calculated to experimental lateral strength ratio of 0.8. Among the identified failure mechanisms, overall flexural, and diagonal cracking-sliding mechanisms showed relatively ductile behavior when compared to the ductility of column punching-joint sliding, and diagonal compression failure mechanism.

Influence of laminate direction and glue area on in-plane shear modulus of cross-laminated timber

The use of cross-laminated timber (CLT) in constructing tall buildings has increased. So, it has become crucial to get a higher in-plane stiffness in CLT panels. One way of increasing the shear modulus, G, for CLT panels can be by alternating the layers to other angles than the traditional 0° and 90°. The diagonal compression test can be used to measure the shear stiffness from which G is calculated. A general equation for calculating the G value for the CLT panels tested in the diagonal compression test was established and verified by tests, finite element simulations and external data. The equation was created from finite element simulations of full-scale CLT walls. By this equation, the influence on the G value was a factor of 2.8 and 2.0 by alternating the main laminate direction of the mid layer from the traditional 90° to 45° and 30°, respectively. From practical tests, these increases were measured to 2.9 and 1.8, respectively. Another influence on the G value was studied by the reduction of the glue area between the layers. It was shown that the pattern of the contact area was more important than the size of the contact area.