Dynamic Fracture Toughness of Sandstone Masonry Beams Bound with Fiber-Reinforced Mortars
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 26, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper reports the fracture parameters of bond in stone masonry beams bound with plain and fiber-reinforced mortar. Sandstone blocks were joined together with a modern Type S mortar conforming to the Canadian standard. A companion series was examined employing a hydraulic lime mortar, typically used in the restoration of historical masonry. Based on a previous study, polypropylene microfibers were incorporated at up to 0.50% by volume to achieve superior crack growth resistance. This study evaluated the critical stress intensity factor, the critical effective crack length, and the critical crack mouth opening displacements. The masonry beams were subjected to quasi-static flexure as per ASTM and dynamic bending through a drop weight impact machine that generated stress rates up to . The study reveals that there is an improvement in the bond strength due to fibers but a difference in the fracture performance between the Type S and hydraulic lime mortars. Whereas with Type S mortar, fibers promote failure through fracture in the stone block especially under dynamic loading, in the hydraulic lime mortar fiber reinforcement moves the failure plane from the interface to within the bulk mortar.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded in part by the Network of Centres of Excellence on Intelligent Sensing for Innovative Structures (ISIS-Canada) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Canada. The authors thank the Masonry Contractors Association of Alberta (Northern Region) and Scorpio Masonry Inc., Edmonton, Alberta, for the supply of materials and technician time. As well, the authors thank Dr. Nemkumar Banthia at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, for making possible their use of the drop-weight impact tester. The assistance of Public Works and Government Services, Canada is also gratefully acknowledged.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 26 • Issue 1 • January 2014
Pages: 125 - 133
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 22, 2012
Accepted: Oct 1, 2012
Published online: Oct 4, 2012
Discussion open until: Mar 4, 2013
Published in print: Jan 1, 2014
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