From Brick to Element: Investigating the Mechanical Properties of Calcium Silicate Masonry

Since the 1980s in the Netherlands, the demand for accelerating the construction process and subsequently reducing the construction costs has led to the replacement of traditional brick masonry with larger masonry units assembled with a thin mortar layer. Accordingly, different masonry unit sizes ranging from traditional bricks (210 × 70 × 100-mm) to larger elements (900 × 650 × 100-mm) have been produced by the calcium silicate industry and widely used for the construction of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. To properly assess the performances of URM buildings, numerical and analytical methods require a complete description of the mechanical behavior of masonry at material level. Despite the widespread application of both calcium silicate brick and element masonry, a refined characterization of the mechanical properties of masonry has not received much attention. As a result, an experimental study was conducted at Delft University of Technology for the material characterization of calcium silicate brick and element masonry, with a view to assessments for induced seismicity in Groningen. By using well-designed testing set-ups, the compression, shear and bending properties of calcium silicate specimens were measured, with an aim to understand the strength, stiffness as well as softening post-peak behavior in compression and in shear of both masonry types. This paper provides insight into the nonlinear behavior of the calcium silicate brick and calcium silicate element masonry as a support to the development and validation of numerical and analytical models for the seismic assessment of URM structures.