Analysis of compressive strength of masonry of ceramic blocks placed with cementitious mortar and polymeric compound

ABSTRACT

The use of polymeric compounds is limited to sealing masonry in Brazil, due to the criteria of the NBR 16590 [¹]. However, one must evaluate how much this material can contribute when applied to structural masonry. Thus, this study investigated the operation of a type of polymeric compound when applied in structural masonry, performing chemical and physical characterization tests and adhesion at the interface between block and binder. Besides these, we investigated the axial compressive strength of full-scale walls was investigated. One sample was made with horizontal joints filled with cementitious mortar and two containing polymeric compound, with 2 and 4 fillets for settlement the blocks. The characterization results of the binder material and interface showed that the polymeric compound has greater resilience and better adherence performance when compared to cementitious mortar. In the overall analysis of the system, it was found that masonry built with 4 fillets of polymeric composite achieved the same compressive strength of the sample built with conventional cement mortar (~ 138 kN/m at break), the sample with 2 fillets presented higher vertical deformation, 25% in relation to the others, showing the potential use of the polymeric compound in structural masonry.

Keywords
Structural masonry; Polymeric compound; Polymeric mortar