Shear and flexural strength of masonry walls made of calcium silicate materials made in Poland

Abstract

In the article are presented the results of the shear and flexural strength of the masonry specimens with the thin joints made of 15 types of the calcium-silicate masonry units produced by 12 Polish manufacturers. The tests of initial shear strength of the masonry f_vko were carried out according to the PN-EN 1052-3 [12] standard (117 specimens). The dependence of the shear strength on the vertical holes percentage were considered as well. The article describes also the results of flexural strength tests (48 specimens) at failure in the plane parallel and perpendicular to the bed joints. The shear and flexural strength is compared with characteristic values proposed in the Polish NA to the PN-EN 1996-1-1 [10] code and national annexes of other European countries. On the basis of performed tests of mechanical parameters of the wall, the authors chose the optimal masonry element, which was used for testing walls subjected to compression, shearing and bending in the plane [16—18]. The results of these studies were partly presented at the international conference WMCAUS-2016 and published in [19]