1 PhD Student, EESC – University of São Paulo, Department of Structural Engineering, orieta@sc.usp.br
2 PhD, Associate Professor, EESC – University of São Paulo, Department of Structural Engineering, mcorrea@sc.usp.br
ABSTRACT
Currently, structural masonry still has some advantages in the construction industry when compared with other conventional construction systems. This paper studies the influence of the contact area in structural concrete masonry units with respect to the compressive strength of wallettes and prisms by varying the type of mortar bedding (full and face-shell bedding) and the use of dimensional adjustment pieces, known as “rapaduras”, to achieve the modulations in masonry walls. This analysis was carried out in order to verify whether the increase of the contact area is proportional to the increase of the compressive strength of the wallettes and prisms, thus establish a rule to be followed by the designer in this aspect. Experimental tests were carried out to characterize the materials and to assess the compressive strength of units, prisms, and wallettes. All materials complied with the current standard requirements. The experiments also showed that the compressive strength is not proportional to the contact area, although this is an important property to estimate the loss or gain of compressive capacity.
KEYWORDS: Mortar type, dimensional adjustment pieces, contact area, structural masonry
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