Abstract:
Originally, brick/block was formed by placing
moist clay/cement mortar in a mold by hand. As modern
industrial methods were implemented in the cement
block manufacturing process, themajority of production was
changed from a molded process to an extrusion process.
Extrusionmore easily accommodates the inclusion of hollow
(void area) in a block unit, which in turn can make the manufacture
and use of block more cost-effective and material efficient.
Although void area in block varies from place to place,
hollow masonry unit standards are defined by ASTM C90-
11b, and specifications are related to theminimum face shells
and a web requirement. This paper examines the effect of the
void area on aspects of the performance of hollow cement
block masonry. The performance of five comparison sets of
hollow cement masonry was evaluated for different range of
void area.Water absorption, compressive strength of cement
block, compressive, shear, and flexural tensile strength of
masonry prism were measured on each type of hollow block
and used as indicators of potential performance in a masonry
wall.
