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Compressive and shear bond strengths of grooved AAC blocks and masonry

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Abstract

Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) is a light-weight cementitious product of sand, water, cement, lime and aluminium powder mix, used globally for brickwork. The AAC blocks in vogue have smooth surfaces, due to which they have less bond strength than that of traditional clay bricks. This work asserts that the shear bond strength of AAC masonry can be enhanced by using grooved AAC blocks. The compressive strength of the grooved AAC block as well as the shear bond and compressive strengths of the masonry have been investigated experimentally and compared with conventional AAC blocks and masonry. The study clearly demonstrated the superiority of grooved AAC blocks to conventional AAC blocks. Simple analytical models have been developed to estimate the masonry compressive and shear bond strengths. Analytical models are capable of obtaining lower, upper and most likely estimates of strengths. Significance tests have been carried out to support the findings.

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Acknowledgements

This work is the part of Department of Science and Technology (DST), India, sponsored project entitled “Design and development of proper bonding mechanism for individual AAC block units in wall system of a structure” through grant number DST/TSG/AMT/2015/375. Authors wish to acknowledge DST and industry partner M/s. K D Infra, Guwahati for their support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, India

    Amit Raj & Uday S. Dixit

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, India

    Arun Ch Borsaikia

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  1. Amit Raj
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  2. Arun Ch Borsaikia
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  3. Uday S. Dixit
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Correspondence to Uday S. Dixit.

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Appendix: Data of compressive load carrying capacity of the blocks

Appendix: Data of compressive load carrying capacity of the blocks

Compressive test result data for AAC block and masonry are presented in Tables 5 and 6. The values in square bracket represent percentage coefficient of variation. A large statistical variation is observed.

Table 5 The compressive strength test results for AAC blocks
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Table 6 The compressive strength test results for AAC masonry prisms
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Raj, A., Borsaikia, A.C. & Dixit, U.S. Compressive and shear bond strengths of grooved AAC blocks and masonry. Mater Struct 52, 116 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-019-1428-8

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