Numerical Study on The Out-of-Plane Behaviour of Brick Masonry Walls Strengthened with Cement Sand Mortar

Abstract

Masonry, as a building material, has a long history of usage in construction. The utilization of brick masonry in conjunction with mortar has been widely adopted due to its ease of implementation and structural durability. However, it has been observed that masonry structures exhibit significant vulnerabilities in the face of lateral loads, particularly regarding bending and shear. As seismic activity continues to pose a growing threat, the need for effective methods of strengthening masonry structures against earthquakes is becoming increasingly imperative. In this research, the Finite Element method is employed to assess the influence of the thickness of cement-sand (CS) mortar on the flexural capacity of cement-clay interlocking brick (CCIB) masonry walls through numerical modeling. In this study, three models of CCIB masonry walls with varying thicknesses of cement-sand (CS) mortar are analyzed. The models comprised of CCIB masonry walls with a one-sided application of CS mortar layers of 10mm and 20mm thickness. The findings indicate that the flexural capacity of the CCIB masonry walls can be improved by increasing the thickness of the CS mortar layer.