Multifactorial behavior of the elastic modulus and compressive strength in masonry prisms of hollow concrete blocks

Abstract

In this paper, a new set of non-linear mathematical expressions to calculate the compressive strength and the elastic modulus of masonry prisms with hollow concrete blocks were obtained. The mathematical models were obtained by multifactorial technique model, which has as advantage: the analysis of the variables associated to the models that provide the main influence on the interaction among the different factors analyzed. It also allows obtaining a nonlinear regression model optimized for each response variable (f’m and Em). Detailed micro-modeling techniques are adopted to simulate the hollow concrete block masonry, describing the experimental tests for the component materials (blocks and mortar) and block-mortar interface. In addition, the structural behavior of the masonry prisms was obtained experimentally. The numerical models were calibrated and validated based on the experimental tests. A sensitivity analysis was carried out by applying a multifactorial complete design 35 and an optimization analysis of the regression models; the compressive strength and the elastic modulus in masonry prisms were evaluated. The results showed that the compressive and tensile strength of the hollow concrete block and the mortar thickness are the most influential parameters for the maximum compressive strength. The compressive strength of the block and the tensile strength of mortar were the most relevant parameters for the elastic modulus in the masonry prisms. In addition, is concluded that, from the analysis and optimization process, both expressions (f’m and Em) are necessarily multifactorial.