MOHAMAD, GIHAD1; FONSECA, FERNANDO S.2; RIZZATTI, EDUARDO3; ROMAN, HUMBERTO R.4; PORTELLA, RAFAEL5

1) Doctor on Civil Engineer, Federal University of Santa Maria, structural and building construction department, gihad@ufsm.br

2) Associate Professor, Brigham Young University, Civil & Environmental Department, ffonseca@et.byu.edu

3) Doctor on Civil Engineer, Federal University of Santa Maria, structural and building construction department, edu_rizzatti@yahoo.com.br

4) Doctor on Civil Engineer, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Department of Civil Engineering, humberto@ecv.ufsc.br

5) Master of Science Student on Civil Engineering, Federal University of Santa Maria, structural and building construction department, portellarafael@hotmail.com

This paper presents the experimental results of a research program with structural ceramic blocks under compression. Four different block geometries were investigated. Two blocks had circular cells with different net areas, a third block had two rectangular cells and a fourth block had rectangular cells and a double central web. One:three small scale blocks were used, and the prisms and walls were built with two mortar types: 1:1:6 and 1:0.5:4. Several blocks, prisms and walls were tested in compression. The main conclusion from this study was that the block with the double central web was the most efficient due to its higher compressive strength. An important observation was that the different mortars didn´t influence the compressive strength of the prisms and walls.

Keywords: Ceramic blocks, structural masonry, Block geometry, Compressive strength