Omar Gouda, Ahmed Hassanein and Khaled Galal
Omar Gouda, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, 1515 St. Catherine West, Montreal, QC, Canada, Omar.Mohamed@concordia.ca
Ahmed Hassanein, Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, 1515 St. Catherine West, Montreal, QC, Canada, Ahmed.Hassanein@concordia.ca
Khaled Galal, Professor, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, 1515 St. Catherine West, Montreal, QC, Canada, khaled.galal@concordia.ca
ABSTRACT
The mechanical properties of the grout and masonry unit control the compressive behaviour of grouted concrete hollow blocks. The grout typically exhibits greater in both the longitudinal and
lateral directions when compared to concrete blocks. Hence, a direct consequence is a compositeaction incompatibility due to grout-to-block differential strain response under compressive loading. Adding fibres to the grout mixture is expected to affect the compressive strength and ductility of masonry assemblages. The main objective of the current research is to investigate the influence of adding glass fibres to the grout mixture on the compressive stress-strain behaviour of grouted masonry prisms. Glass fibres are expected to enhance the compressive strength, affect the ductility, and control the post-peak behaviour and longitudinal crack propagation. The experimental work involves testing 36 fully grouted half-scaled masonry prisms reinforced with different glass fibres ratios of 0%, 0.03%, 0.06%, and 0.1%; 24 prisms were two blocks high, while 12 prisms were five blocks high. The test specimens were tested concentrically up to failure. The results indicated that the addition of glass fibres to the grout was beneficial to the post-cracking performance and increased the compressive strength of the prisms, hence affecting the compression stress block design of the masonry assemblage.
KEYWORDS: masonry prisms, fibre reinforced grout, compressive strength, stress-strain behaviour
