José Álvarez, Milena Mesa and Jorge Chávez
José Álvarez, Professor Ph.D., Structural Department, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Av. Universidad S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, C.P. 66455, México, jose.alvarezpe@uanl.mx
Milena Mesa, Professor Ph.D., Structural Department, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Av. Universidad S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, C.P. 66455, México, mmesal@uanl.edu.mx
Jorge Chávez, Professor Ph.D., Head of Structural Department, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Av. Universidad S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, C.P. 66455, México, jorge.chavezg@uanl.mx
ABSTRACT
In this research, an experimental study is conducted on masonry units of hollow concrete blocks. The blocks were tested under direct tensile tests in two directions, x and y, orthogonal to the extrusion-direction. Splitting tests from ASTM-C-1006 were carried out, also in the x and y directions. A test procedure was implemented for testing the blocks under the direct tensile test
with the aim of obtaining a reliable relationship of hollow concrete blocks in tensile stress. The tensile strength of masonry units could be a decisive parameter in masonry behavior when it is subjected to certain load conditions. One-hundred fifty blocks from the same lot were tested, taking into account compression tests, direct tensile tests, and splitting tests. Either with the splitting or direct tensile test, the tensile strength has a significant statistical difference between both directions (x and y), verifying the non-isotropy from of hollow concrete blocks. Results in the x-direction by applying the splitting method were significantly smaller than by the direct method, contrary to the y-direction. A statistical analysis of parametric and non-parametric hypothesis tests was used to determine the significance levels between both test procedures. In addition, a discussion about compressive and tensile strength relationships was carried out.
KEYWORDS: direct tensile test, splitting test, hollow concrete block, masonry, tensile strength
