PLANNING, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF STRUCTURAL CONCRETE BLOCK MASONRY

K.VENKATESH BABU.B.E;
CIVIL AND STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

INTRODUCTION: Concrete concrete absorption, blocks were in use as an alternative to clay bricks since early 1970 in India. Due to the

development

that has taken place in raw materials, surfac~ finishes and textures,

production process and availability of Hi-Tech machines, like size, shape, strength, water thermal and insulation properties properties,

blocks are being manufactured

with control over its properties color, acoustical

etc ... The availability

of such high quality blocks enables the designers to make use of the blocks efficiently in quality of construction. This has led to the use of concrete methods of

resulting in greater economy and improvement masonry in multistoried construction, GENERAL structures

blocks as exposed load bearing masonry for high rise structures. The use of structural hollow concrete block has led to considerable economies compared to conventional but the requirements PROPERTIES of this method need to be borne in mind by the Engineers and Architects. CONCRETE MASONRY UNITS: produces

OF ENGINEERED

Exposed concrete

block should be dense and water tight and of such shape that it conveniently for a specific use.

water tight walls and that will not require water proofing or painting. Also it must liberally meet the minimum load and tensile strength requirements Additional characteristics Sufficient

of a high quality blocks are to withstand serious wetting by heavy rain and the ability to dry out

Strength and design to withstand abnormal stresses when laid in wall. impermeability quickly afterwards. Adherence to consistent quality, uniform size and accurate dimensions. Finished unit dried to minimum moisture content. Freedom from discoloration, Pleasing appearance popping or staining.

eliminating the necessity of painting except for decoration.

The physical properties of 190mm thick two cored hollow structural concrete blocks are as below: (if (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) Size of full blocks Dimensional tolerance Weight of full block Yard dry density Water absorption Net characteristic Thermal resistance Estimates sound transmission class crushing 15 Mpa. to 50 Mpa. 0.38 to 0.33 M2KfW 46 to 58 dB Strength on flange area 390mm x 190mm x 190mm 3mm 17.5 Kg. 2100 - 2200 Kg/Cum. 3 to 5%

... 2

-2PLANNING METHODS:

The design of a concrete block masonry wall depends on its required appearance, economy, strength, insulation and acoustical characteristics. I. PLANNING LAYOUT OF WALLS AND COLUMNS: The layout of walls and columns involves important considerations such as functional requirement of the structure, internal arrangement of components, opening size and locations, requirement 'Of modular planning, idealization of structural concepts, provisions for shrinkage and cracking control and weather resistance. All deserve careful planning if the wall is to successfully serve its intended purpose. Masonry structures gain stability from the support provided by cross walls, floors, roofs and other elements. Load bearing walls are structurally most efficient when the structure is so planned that the eccentricity of the loading is minimized. When the stability of a building is entirely dependent on the masonry walls, it is essential that the wall be properly arranged to resist lateral loads from any direction. This may be achieved by using I. Double cross wall arrangement.

II. A cellular wall arrangement. III. A complex wall arrangement.

BEARING WALLS TRANSVERSE SHEAR WALLS

Fig.

Some examples of two-directional bearing/shear wall layouts

... 3 ~3-

BEARING WALLS

TRANSVERSE
SHEAR WALLS

Fig.

: Examples of multi-directional

bearing/shear wall layouts.

The cross wall arrangement is usually associated with one way spanning floor or roof slabs whereas the other forms permit the use of two way slabs. These latter forms lead to economics in the floor system and also improve the robustness of a building, giving greater protection against progressive collapse if a load bearing wall is accidentally damaged.
II. DIMENSIONAL PLANNING:

The modular nature of masonry units tends to impose a stricter discipline on, lengths, heights and particularly the thickness of walls and piers than is found in other conventional materials. Modular planning is a method of coordinating the dimensions of various building components to simplify the work and thus lower the cost of construction. In modular plan for concrete masonry construction all horizontal dimensions are given in multiples of half the nominal height of the block. The width of doors and window openings as well as wall length should be multiples of 8".

... 4

-4DESIGN METHODS: DesiQnconcepts: The design concepts and philosophies are to be well understood before attempting design of structures. It is generally believed that masonry structures are suited primarily for low rise structures. Concrete block wall has specific advantage over load bearing brick masonry or RCC framed structure as the hollow cores of the blocks can be reinforced with steel and grouted with concrete, it enables the designer to adopt anyone of the following structural system to suit the functional and architectural requirement of the building. a. b. c. Load bearing masonry system. Framed structure with reinforced block masonry columns and beams. A hybrid system of load bearing masonry walls and reinforced block masonry columns.

Unreinforced masonry is designed to act basically in compression and is assumed to be incapable of carrying tensile stresses. Vertical loads are transmitted by load bearing walls from storey to storey down to foundations. Each floor must be designed to carry its own dead load and live loads and possibly some bending moments arising from the assumed continuity of walls and floors. Lateral loads due to winds are transmitted directly to the load bearing walls and indirectly from the floors. These lateral loads are resisted by the load bearing walls acting as continuous vertical cantilevers from the top of the building and give rise to tensile and compressive vertical bending stresses under flexure. The concrete block masonry walls are grouted and reinforced to supplement the strength of masonry in compression, tension and shear forces. Reinforced masonry increases the vertical axial load carrying capacity and also enables to use the shear wall concepts to resist the lateral forces due to wind and earthquake loads. The distribution of lateral forces between shear walls in a load bearing structure will depend upon the in-plane flexibility of the floor system and the arrangement and relative stiffness of the shear walls. The in-plane action of a floor system or diaphragm is analogous to that of the web in a plate girder. In this analogy the floor slab constitutes the web, the floor joists and beam function as stiffeners and the walls or bond beams act as flanges. The designer must also ensure that there is a reasonable probability that catastrophic collapse of the load bearing structure will not occur under the effect of misuse or accident. Damage from over loads should not be disproportionate to the nature of the overload. Research has shown that provided accidental damage provisions are considered at the design stage, the possibility of progressive collapse can be avoided with little or no extra cost to the resulting structure. The structural design shall provide for the safety, serviceability and proper functioning of the structure as a whole and its component parts, including each masonry member under the.action of the loads and forces. It shall , a. Be in accordance with accepted principle of mechanics. b. Provide for all loads and forces to be transferred through the structures to the foundation. c. Provide all necessary compatibility between each masonry member and the structural members giving vertical and/or lateral support to that masonry member. d. Be based on the material strength properties of the masonry. e. Be consistent with the following assumptions i. Plane sections remain plane under bending actions. ii. A recognized stress - strain relationship for the masonry. iii. The tensile strength of unreinforced masonry shall be taken as zero except for stresses resulting from wind loads and similar forces of short term transient nature. ...5

-5Members composed pertaining composite of more than one type or grade of unit or mortar shall be designed for the properties combination of components used or if appropriate shall be designed for

to the least favorable

action taking account of the different material properties of the parts.

DESIGN FOR COMPRESSION:

Factors affecting load carrying capacity of masonry walls are (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) The cross sectional properties of the wall based on its bedded area. The characteristic compressive ratio. of the load. is satisfied strength of the masonry. The wall slenderness

The effective eccentricities

A member shall be ,designed such that the following relationship Fd:: KFo a. For ungrouted hollow units masonry: Fo = Cm fm Ab For grouted hollow units masonry:
(i)

b.

if no testing is done: Fo = Cm [fm Ab + Kc (fc/1.3) Ac] if testing is done: Fo = Cm fmg Ad Fo Fd = = = basic compressive design compressive capacity of the cross section force.

(ii) Where

Cm

Capacity reduction factor. 0.45 Ksz for compression. size reduction factor 0.75 + Ag/500000 simultaneous

< Ksz =

for members in compression,

with or without

bending and whose overall cross sectional area

is less than 125 000 mm2 where Ag= overall cross sectional area of the member ' = K = 1.00 for other members.

a reduction factor for slenderness following table .

and eccentricity given in the

... 6

-6Slenderness 0 0 0.81 0.87 0.94 1 1.00 . 0.26 0.01 0.37 0.49 0.23 0.06 0.60 0.44 0.08 0.15 0.13 0.55 0.46 0.66 0.20 0.83 0.67 0.58 .-1 0.12 0.63 0.61 0.02 0.28 0.64 0.64 0.72 0.77 0.70 D.38 0.29 0.56 0.32 0.40.94 0.68 0.88 0.73 10.35 0.79 0.73 0.1 0.33 0.3 0.2 0.22 0.04 0.42 0.09 0.21 0.31 0.11 0.52 0.34 0.51 0.45 0.36 0.40 0.19 0.53 0.16 0.29 0.45 0.64 0.52 0.46 0.47 0.30 0.58 0.39 0.25 0.27 0.59 0.62 0.79 0.76 0.48 0.40 0.51 0.70 0.88 0.15 0.13 0.10 0.21 0 0.37 0.35 0.33 0.17 0.18 0.43 0.38 0.24 0.54 0.71 0.24 0.56 0.76 0.40 0.67 0.62 0.82
I

Reduction Factors (K)(elltw) Eccentricity to thickness ratio

Kc Sr Ab Ac Ad F'c Fm F'mg
=

= =

1.4 for hollow concrete masonry units of density greater than 2000 kg/Cum. 1.2 for all other masonry. characteristic characteristic cylindrical compressive compressive strength of grout in Mpa. strength of masonry.

characteristic compressive strength of grouted masonry. the bedded area that is within the zone of dispersion under consideration. the cross sectional area of grout. design cross sectional area of the member. Slenderness Evaluation of slenderness ratio: ratio calculated as explained in the slenderness section.

The slenderness (a)

ratio of a member about a principal axis shall be as follows:

Other than as in (b) below Sr

=

(av H) / (Kt t)

(b)

For a wall that is laterally supported along one or both of its vertical edges, the least of (i) Sr Sr Sr Sr
= = =

(av H) / (Kt t) (ah L) /t av H/3t Kt + ah U3t

T (ii) (Hi) Where Av

= =

Slenderness

ratio to

Overall thickness or depth of the member's cross section perpendicular the principal axis under consideration. 0.75 for a member laterally supported and rotationally restrained at both top and bottom or

... 7

-70.85 for a member laterally supported at both top and bottom and rotationally restrained at only one of these or = 1.00 for a member laterally supported and rotationally free at both top and Bottom; or 2.00 for a member laterally supported and rotation ally restrained at only at its bottom. 1.00 for a member laterally supported along both vertical edges (Regardless of the rotational restraint along these edges); or

Ah

Kt THICKNESS =

2.00 for a member laterally supported along one vertical edge, and unsupported along its other vertical edge.

thickness coefficient derived from the following table FOR WALLS STIFFENED BY MONOLITICALL Y ENGAGED PIERS

COEFFICIENTS

2.0 1.4 1.0 1.0 1.7 3 or1.0 2 more 1.3 1.0 1.2 1.1 Pier Thickness ratio (twptt)

1 THICKNESS

COEFFICIENT

(Kt)

Notes: 1. Pier spacing is taken as the distance between centre line of piers. Characteristic Compressive Strength of Masonry compressive strength of masonry (fm) used in design shall be as follows:

The value of the characteristic (a)

For masonry other than special masonry F'm = Kh fmb Where fmb = the value derived from the following table

CHARACTERISTIC 10 30 20 40 25 15 5 8.8 4.4 7.7 7.0 5.4 6.3 of3.6 Type

COMPRESSIVE 1 :1:6 Mortar Composition

STRENGTH

OF MASONRY (fmb)

e hollow

Kh

=
=

Factor reflecting the influence of the ratio of masonry height to mortar bed joint thickness. 1.3 for ratio of masonry unit height to mortar bed joint thickness ~ 19.0

... 8

-8BEDDED AREA:

The bedded area of the masonry member shall be the contact area of the mortar with the masonry units, which shall not include the depth of any raking of joints .. In hollow unit masonry the contact area of the mortar shall be the face shell bedded area meas~ minimum thickness of the face shell and shall not include the area of the webs in the units. GROUTED AREA: at the

The cross sectional area of grout in a masonry member shall be taken as Ac = Ad -Ab

The load carrying capacity of a 3m height wall is as per the above is

(i)

M30 Grade block wall in C:L:S-1:1:6 M20 Grade block wall in C:L:S-1:1:6 MASONRY:

232.7 KN/M. 190.4 KN/M.

(ii)

REINFORCED

DESIGN FOR COMPRESSION: Reinforced so that masonry members of uniform cross section subject to compressive forces shall be proportioned

Fd s..Cr K (fm Ab + Kc (fc/1.3) Ac + fsy As) Where

Cr
Fsy As

= = =

0.7 characteristic strength of reinforcement Area of steel. steel

DESIGN FOR BENDING: Reinforced (a) masonry members subject to bending shall be proportioned so that Md ~ Cr fsy Asd d {1- [ (0.6 fsy Asd) I (1.3 fm b d) ] } Where b =
= =

width of masonry member effective depth of the member that portion of the cross sectional area of the main tensile reinforcement.

D
Asd

(b)

As/bd

~ (0.29) (1.3 fm) I fsy

...9

-9CONCENTRATED LOADS:

Concentrated

load acting on concrete

masonry shall be assumed to disperse through the masonry at an

angle of 45 degrees from the perimeter of the bearing area of the load but this dispertion is not to extend (a) In to the dispersion zone of an adjacent concentrated load on the member, or

(b) Beyond the structural end of the masonry in the member Load capacity under a concentrated The design compressive plus that portion consideration. load load

force acting on any given cross section shall include the design concentrated forces that acts on the cross sectional

of the other compressive

area (Ads) under

The design bending moment acting on the same cross section under consideration

shall include the bending

moment if any from the design concentrated load plus that portion of the bending moments from other loads and forces that acts on that cross sectional area.

In addition the member shall be designed to satisfy the following equation for each cross section within the zone of dispersion Fd < Kb Fo Where Fo Fd Kb
= =

of the concentrated

load:

basic compressive design compressive concentrated bearing factor

capacity of the cross section force

bearing factor

Concentrated

The value of the concentrated

bearing factor (Kb) shall be

(a) For cross sections at a distance greater than 0.25H below the level of the bearing of the concentrated load on the member Kb = 1.00

(b) Fo~ cross sections at a distance within 0.25H below the level of the bearing of the concentrated load on the member other than as in (ii) below (including ungrouted hollow unit masonry) Kb = 1.00 . in solid or cored unit masonry, or in grouted masonry 0.55 (1 +0.5 a1/L) Kb = ----------------------------------(Ads/Ade)
0.33

(i)

(ii)

or

Kb = 1.50 + a1/L whichever

is less, but Kb is less than 1

... 10

-10Where L a1 Ade Ads bearing or dispersion under consideration. area of the concentrated load at the design cross section load in the member at mid height.
=

effective area of dispersion of the concentrated clear length of the wall or pier. When the masonry is not capable of resisting the concentrated suggested. deflection significant reinforcing under the load resulting differential

distance from the end of the wall or pier to the nearest end of the bearing area.

loads a bearing pad of reinforced concrete 15 which may have significant

Care should be taken under the supports of beams and cantilevers

in severe edge stresses. The use of bearing pads will help to prevent loads on walls otherwise lightly loaded can produce beyond the zone of influence is one means of vertical cracking adjacent to the loaded area. Bed joint

spalling of the face of the masonry. Heavy concentrated strains resulting in premature immediately

below the loaded area extending

controlling the cracking. CONSTRUCTION Masonry generation be adopted explained OF ENGINEERED have been CONCRETE MASONRY of years UNITS: passed on from generation to is

structures

built thousand

and methods

by instruction by engineers below.

and example. The techniques suitable

of construction

of structural concrete masonry shall method of construction

to the site conditions.

The recommended

Estimation of materials: Estimation of material requirement shall be first job in the construction of unreinforced of block masonry. The following are

material requirement

for the construction

plain concrete block masonry per unit area of one

square meter in Cement lime mortar 1: 1:6. Concrete blocks of size 390mm x 190m x 190mm Cement Sand Lime Keepinq the units drr When delivered to the job, concrete masonry units should be dry enough to comply with specified limitations for moisture placement, content. a practice Concrete contrary masonry units should never be wetted immediately of clay brick masonry. before and during to the general construction When moist concrete 12.5 Nos. 0.08 Bags. 0.55 Cft. 0.1 Cft.

masonry units are placed in a wall, they will shrink with loss of moisture. If this shrinkage is restrained, as it usually is, stresses develop that may cause cracks in the walls. Hence it is important that the units be kept at or dried . .. .11

-11Mortar:

Mortar for concrete predictable

masonry

is designed

not only to join masonry

units into an integral structure

with

performance

properties,

but also to:

(1) Effect tight seals between units against the entry of air and moisture (2) Bond with steel joint reinforcement, integrally with the masonry; (3) Provide an architectural (4) Compensate Units. quality to exposed masonry structures through color contrasts or procedures; and tolerances on in the units by providing a bed to accommodate Shadow lines from various joint-tooling for size variations metal ties, and anchor bolts, if any, so that they perform

Masonry mortar recommended

for exposed unreinforced

plain masonry is one part of cement, one part of

lime and six parts of clean well graded sand with sufficient quantity of water to produce a plastic, workable mixture. Probably the most important quality of a masonry mortar is workability because of its influence on other important workmanship mortar properties in both plastic and hardened states. Good mortar is necessary for good of concrete masonry. and proper structural performance

Mortar beddinq: Two types of mortar bedding are used with concrete masonry; (i) (ii) Full mortar bedding. Face-Shell mortar bedding. wall as well as

Full bedding is used for laying the fist or starting course of block on a footing or foundation for laying solid units. It is also commonly that will carry heavy loads. Where some vertical cores are to be solidly grouted,

used when building concrete masonry columns, piers and pilasters such as in reinforced For all other concrete masonry work with

masonry, the webs around each grouted core are fully mortared.

hollow units, it is common practice to use only face shell bedding. Also the head (vertical) joints of block having plain ends are mortared only opposite the face shells .. For bed joints, all concrete block should be laid with the thicker part of the face shell up. This provides a larger mortar-bedding block easier to lift. A mechanical walls. spreader can be used to speed production, area and makes the on long, straight especially

For head joints, mortar is applied only on the face shell ends of the block. Some masons butter the

vertical ends of the block previously placed; others set the block on one end and butter the other end before laying the block. Time can be saved by placing three or four block on end and then buttering their vertical edges in one operation. Each block is brought to its final position and pushed downward into the mortar bed and sideways against the previously laid block so that the mortar oozes out of the head and bed joints on

both sides of the face shell. This indicates that the joints are well filled. Bondinq of plain Masonry: All the concrete wall unreinforced (i) (ii) blocks in a masonry wall must be bonded to form a continuous concrete block masonry is mass. Although several

methods may be used to achieve bonding between blocks the most prevalent method of bonding in a single

Running bond. Stacking bond .

.. .12

-12Usually two cored hollow concrete blocks are laid in running bond with an over lap of half the block length so as the hollow cored are vertically continuous and vertical joints are minimum. Staking bond wlll used in places like columns, mullions or piers Lavinq
UP

a wall:

First Course: On jobs where more than one mason is working, the footing or slab foundation must be level so 1tlat each mason can start his section of the wall on a common plane and the bed joints will be uniformly s1Jaight when the sections are connected. If the foundation is badly out of level, the entire first course should be laid before masons begin work on other courses. Before any units are laid , the top surface of the concrete foundation should be clean. Laitance is removed and aggregate exposed to ensure good bond of the masonry foundatiqn. Then full mortar bed is spread and furrowed with a trowel to ensure plenty of mortar along the bottom edges of the block for the first course. I the wall is to be grouted, the mortar bedding for the first course should not fill the area under the block cores; grout should come into direct contact with the foundation.

Un corner unit wi 2.!!!Ind flu~.h

th Make Height of .all 10 fil concrele masonry u~il.o~e\Jl1ila~d one Joint equal200mm

... 13

-13 Corners: The corners of the walls are built u higher, usually four or five courses higher, than the course being laid at the center of the wall. As each course is laid at a corner, it is checked with a level for alignment for being level and for being plumb with a level or straightedge to make certain the the faces of all block are in the same plane. Between corners: After each corner at each end of a wall have been laid up, a mason's line (string line) is stretched tightly from corner to corner for each course and the top outside edge of each block is laid to this line. The line is moved up as each course is laid. Care must be taken to keep the wall surface clean during construction. In removing excess mortar that oozed out at the joints, the mason must avoid smearing soft mortar onto the face of the unit, especially if the wall is to be left exposed or painted. Any mortar droppings that do stick to the wall should be almost dry before they are removed with a trowel. Then, when dry and hard, most of the remaining mortar can be removed by rubbing with a small piece of concrete masonry and by brushing.

Trimming
ooit is leveUedby trower

Buttering

Positioning

taWinq ",ilh aJ standunit ",end

.10 place

for vert c a I joint

10

mortar

;:~ine , ,)

la~unit to

Fig.

: Co uele

masonry laying details

... 14

-14Closure unit: When installing the closure unit, the mason butters all edges of the opening and all four vertical edges oUile closure unit before he carefully lowers the unit into place. I any of the mortar falls out, leaving an oPen joint, the mason remove the closure unit, apply fresh mortar and repeat the operation. Closure unit 'locationsare staggered throughout the length of the wall. Toolinq Mortar ioints: Weather tight joints and neat appearance of concrete masonry walls are dependent on proper tooling;i.e, compressing and shaping the mortar face of a joint with a special tool. After a wall section has been laid and the mortar has become thumbprint-hard, the mortar joints are usually considered ready for tooling. Upon hardening, mortar has a tendency to shrink slightly and pull away from the edges of the masonry units. Proper use of a jointing tool restores the intimate contact between the mortar and units when they were laid to make weather tight, uniform, sharp and clean lines. Horizontal joints should be tooled before vertical joints.

looting concave

Q horizontal

joint

Tooling a vertical

joint

Mortar

WITS are trimmed

of

type

af t<zr 1h<Z Joints ar<ztoolred.

Fig.

Electrical concealment and Joineries fixation: The service lines like electrical conduits can be concealed though the hollow cores during construction of the wall as shown in the figure below. The joineries like doors and windows shall be fixed to the masonry using conventional clamps or with anchor fasteners to the block masonry and the door and window jams and sill shall be grouted with concrete.

_____ tX
I'.
" "

r.c,c slab
\>fire mesh

I, I,
---'--'''---pvc conduit' pipe
-switch box

p.'".c co nduit pipe

switch box.

Elevation
ELECTRICAL

Section'xx'
CONDIUTING
ore grouted upto
1~~i~h~i.iW~nit

i ron

hold fas t

I Elevation ~ ID OIGJJ
o
~~.

200X200 hatfunit jron hold fast -

entire height of the opening.

~"~.

ID'~

DOOR FIXATION DETAIL