Mechanical Performance of Confined Autoclaved Fly-Ash-Brick Masonry Walls under Cyclic Loading

Abstract

In order to solve the limitations of masonry structures, such as poor seismic performance, complicated construction techniques, and energy wastage of wall materials, a new type of confined autoclaved fly-ash-brick wall was proposed and its mechanical performance was analyzed. An axial compression test of autoclaved fly-ash-brick short columns was carried out to analyze the failure mode and obtain the constitutive parameters of the brick. Meanwhile, a low-cyclic loading test of an assembly using an autoclaved fly-ash-brick wall was carried out to prove the correctness of the numerical model. Under multiple influencing parameters, the seismic performance of the assembly of autoclaved fly-ash-brick walls was analyzed by a numerical-simulation method. The results show that (1) the seismic performance of the assembled autoclaved fly-ash-brick walls is better than that of cast-in-place masonry walls; (2) low-strength mortar leads to premature cracking, which is unfavorable to earthquake resistance of the walls; and (3) the bearing capacity of the wall is increased and then decreased with the increase of the vertical compressive stress, so the number of layers of brick masonry structural should be limited. In addition, some construction measures were proposed to improve the mechanical performance of assembled autoclaved fly-ash-brick walls.