Investigation of the adherence between clay blocks and grouts

This study aims to evaluate the adherence between clay blocks and grouts. For this purpose, push-out and pull-out tests were performed to assess the adherence presented by different combinations of five types of clay blocks and two types of grouts. The results demonstrated that the geometry of the cells of the clay blocks has a preponderant role in their adherence with grout, as the extent of the contact area between grout and block depends on the geometry of the cell. The shrinkage of the grout can cause the formation of cracks at the interface between block and grout, reducing the adherence between the materials. The shrinkage formed inside each type of block can be estimated based on the testing procedure developed in this research and used in conjunction with the geometric characteristics of the cells of the blocks to estimate the maximum load in the push-out tests. The test procedure developed to estimate the percentage of contact area lost due to grouts shrinkage shows to be promising, since its results were used in the equation to estimate the bond strength between blocks and grouts and shown good correlation. However, more study must be done because there are other variables that can affect the results. These results show that it is possible to use different characteristics of blocks and grouts to increase the adherence between these materials and provide a better behavior for reinforced masonry structures. However, it looks like if block types with a grooved hollow cell are used, a bigger contact surface is produced, and a higher bond strength appears to be assured.

Reinforced masonry practical booklet

The main work explains the elaboration process of a didactic booklet that details the constructive method of reinforced masonry, final product of an investigation developed by the department of Architecture and Urbanism at Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), entitled “Alvenaria Cerâmica Armada: uma cartilha prática”[1], at 2020. This article presents a discussion concerning urban sustainability, here understood not from it ecological dimension only, but also from it’s social and cultural. The post-modern Productivism from the 70’s decades impulses an architectural production which impacts the landscape and life quality of city’s population, presenting a homogenization in what concerns architecture. Contrasting this universalized architectural movement, some notably Latin-American architectural offices, using materials and local techniques, started to answer the local demands (and international) under the sustainable directive, intending to use low cost and using resources and rejects from local site to build. Based on the practical experience at one of these offices, the Paraguayan office Gabinete de Arquitectura, it was possible to elaborate a guidebook synthesizing some precepts and building techniques in reinforced masonry, a method easily reached by the most popular layers of society. By this guidebook it is uncovered many possibilities for an architectural low cost production with both social and cultural commitments. [1] Reinforced Masonry Practical Booklet.

Assessment of Selected Models for FRP-Retrofitted URM Walls under In-Plane Loads

One way to improve a structure’s total load-bearing capacity during an earthquake is to apply fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) to unreinforced walls. The study discusses the use of FRP to strengthen unreinforced masonry (URM) structures. Although, many studies were conducted on the FRP strengthening of URM buildings, most of them were experiments to investigate the success of retrofitting approaches, rather than developing a successful design model. A database of 120 FRP-reinforced wall samples was created based on the current literature. Various approaches for calculating the bearing capacity of FRP-reinforced masonry are presented and detailed. The findings of the experiments, which were compiled into a database, were compared to those derived using formulas from the literature and/or building codes, and the model’s limitations are discussed.