Ali Abasi, Reza Hassanli, Thomas Vincent and Allan Manalo
Ali Abasi, Ph.D. student, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Western University, London, ON, Canada. Email: aabasi@uwo.ca.
Reza Hassanli, Lecturer, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia. Email: reza.hassanli@unisa.edu.au.
Thomas Vincent, Senior Lecturer, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia. Email: thomas.vincent@flinders.edu.au.
Allan Manalo, Professor, Center for Future Materials, Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences, Univ. of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia. Email: allan.manalo@usq.edu.au.
ABSTRACT
Variation in the size of test prisms can affect the measured compressive strength of concrete masonry and result in unsafe overprediction. Thus, current masonry codes provide correction
factors to modify the strength by considering the height-to-thickness ratio of the prism. This study investigated the accuracy of the available correction factors and methods provided in masonry
codes, and examined the effects of the length-to-thickness ratio as well as the height-to-thickness ratio of prisms on the compressive strength. The numerical study was conducted based on the finite element method and verified against different experimental tests. The results show that, in addition to the height-to-thickness ratio, the length-to-thickness ratio plays an important role in the compressive strength of the prisms and should be considered in estimating the compressive strength of masonry prisms.
KEYWORDS: compressive strength, concrete masonry, correction factors, finite element method, height-to-thickness ratio, length-to-thickness ratio
