Hunt, B.R.1 and Sherwood, E.G.2
1 PhD Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada, bradley.hunt@carleton.ca
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada, ted.sherwood@carleton.ca
ABSTRACT
This paper summarizes a new model developed to predict the compression strength of hollow concrete block masonry prisms known as the Simplified Smeared Area Compression Model (SSACM). The original Smeared Area Compression Model (SACM) can predict the compression strength of hollow concrete block prisms with high accuracy and low variation, but due to the iterative solution the model is suited for implementation through a computer and not directly transferable to design code application. This paper presents a new simplified model that can predict the compression strength of hollow concrete block prisms in a method suitable for “back of the envelope” calculations. This new method gives an average experimental to predicated compression strength ratio of 1.01 with a COV of 11% from a database of over 200 prism tests. The application of this new simplified method is further demonstrated through proposed design equations that give an average experimental to predicated compression strength ratio of 1.37 with a COV of 18%.
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