Assessing Mechanical Properties of Concrete Block Masonry under Uniaxial Compression for Design Applications

This paper presents the details of experimental testing of masonry prisms, which were tested in compression. The experimental program consisted of prisms made with hollow and solid blocks of thickness 100 and 150 mm. Five different proportions of mortars were employed in the casting of these prisms, which included 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5, and 1:6 by weight. Three prisms were cast and tested using each of these mortar types for each block type. It was found that the failure modes and compressive behaviors of the prisms were not significantly influenced by the mortar types, although these were different for the prisms made of solid and hollow blocks. The deformation behaviors of the prisms in the postpeak region were also different for these block types. The compressive strength of the prisms (fp) varied with the block strength and was not dependent on the block type. All the prisms exhibited typical behaviors of uniaxially compressed prismatic members. An average elastic modulus of 1,720 fp was found for the tested prisms, while Poisson's ratio varied from 0.10 to 0.15. Analytical models for estimating fp and strain corresponding to fp have been proposed for design practice. A new constitutive equation for capturing the falling branch of the stress–strain curve of block masonry prisms has also been proposed.