Ch-11.

Testing of Masonry Elements

10.1 Compressive strength of Brick and Masonry wall

10.2 Diagonal Shear Test of masonry wall

10.3 Non destructive test-Elastic wave tomography,

Flat Jack, Push share test and others
Compressive Strength of brick:

 Aim
To determine the compressive strength of bricks
 Apparatus
 Compression testing machine or Universal testing
machine.
Three numbers of whole bricks from sample
collected should be taken .The dimensions should be
measured to the nearest 1mm
Compressive Strength of Brick Cond…
 Compressive Strength of Brick Cond…

 Procedure
 Place the specimen with flat faces horizontal and
mortar filled face facing upwards between plates of
the testing machine.
 Apply load axially at a uniform rate of 14 MPa per
minute till failure occurs and note maximum load at
failure.
 The load at failure is maximum load at which the
specimen fails to produce any further increase in the
indicator reading on the testing machine.
 Compressive Strength of Brick Cond…

 Calculation

The average of result shall be reported.

Result
Average compressive strength of the given
bricks =…………..
Compressive Strength of Masonry wall

Compressive Strength of mesonary wall

For masonry under construction, we need to determine compliance with
the specified compressive strength of masonry.
Apparatus Required
 Universal Testing machine

specimen
 At least three number of brick wall with certain bond type.
Sampling
 Prepare the wall (3 to 5 )with specific bond.
 Finish the top and bottom of the wall by placing mortars in frogs and
gaps.
Compressive Strength of Masonry wall Cond..

 Curing is done in jute bags for 24 hours and in clean

water for 3 days.
 Remove the jute bag after 3 days and wipe out any traces of
moisture and the specimen is ready to test.
Procedure
 Place the specimen with flat faces between the plates of
UTM.
 Apply load axially at a uniform rate of 14 MPa per minute
till failure occurs and note maximum load at failure.
 The load at failure is maximum load at which the specimen
fails to produce any further increase in the indicator
reading on the testing machine
Compressive Strength of Masonry wall Cond..

 Calculation

 Average Compressive strength of samples tested will be required

compressive strength
Compressive Strength of Masonry wall Cond…
DIAGONAL SHEAR TEST
The diagonal shear test is based on subjecting a 1.2 x 1.2 m
square section of à wall to diagonal compression at diagonally
opposite corners of the specimen.
The test specimen is laid along the thickness of wall as shown
in the figure. Failure occurs along the diagonal forming
diagonal crack to the line of action of the compressive force.

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This test was introduced to simulate a pure shear stress state according to
the scheme in the figure (b). The diagonal shear stress may be calculated
from the equation:
Pd
τ= −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−− − (1)
2𝐴
where Pd = Applied load (N)
A = Average gross or net area of the cross-section along the bed and
head joint in mm².
The gross area is used in calculation if the specimen is constructed with
solid units while the net area is used in case of specimen with below
units.
Net area of specimen (An) = d *t*n
where, d = Side of square panel wall (mm)
t=Total thickness of specimen (mm)
n = % of the gross area of the unit that is solid, expressed in decimal.

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 As ‘A’ is the area of the side of the square panel; hence, the principal
tensile stress σ1 is equal to the shear stress.
If Pdu denotes the maximum value of Pd, the shear strength is given by:
Pdu
τ𝑢 = ------------------------------------- (2)
2𝐴
On the other hand, a linear elastic analysis of the panel considered a
homogeneous solid, gives the localized value of the principal tensile
stress in the center of the specimen as
𝑃𝑑 𝑃𝑑
𝜎𝐼 ≅ 0.519
2𝐴 𝐴
𝑃𝑑
Whereas the maximum value of the shear stress is τmax = 1.1
𝐴
Pdu
so, τ𝑢 is obtained as: τ𝑢 = ----------(3).
2𝐴
Therefore two different interpretations of diagonal test results are possible.
The equation (2) is the most commonly used for compression purpose.
NON DESTRUCTIVE TEST (NDT)
■ Elastic wave tomography
■ Rebound Hammer / Schmidt Hammer
■ Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity
■ Impact Echo Test
■ X-Rays
■ Flat Jack Test
 Elastic wave tomography
■ Technique used for locating shallow delaminations,
cracks, and voids.
■ Elastic wave tomography is based on two basic
principles from heat transfer: conduction and
radiation. Sound materials with no voids, gaps, or
cracks are more thermally conductive than materials
that are delaminated or contain moisture.
■ This allows rapid areal mapping of internal
conditions. It should be noted that the this method
is most useful for the detection of shallow defects and
flaws.
■ Tests For: Voids, Cracks, Moisture.
 Rebound Hammer Method
■ Can be used to determine the in-place compressive
strength of concrete within a range of 1500 – 8000 psi
(10-55MPa)
■ A quick and simple mean of checking concrete
uniformity.
■ Measure the distance of rebound of a spring-loaded
plunger after it struck a smooth concrete surface.
■ Results of the test can be affected by factors such as
smoothness of concrete surface, size, shape, rigidity of
specimen, age & moisture condition.
■ Type of coarse aggregate & the carbonation of the
surface.
 Nondestructive Test
Re-bound hammer Method
Flat Jack Test:
 Flat jack testing is a nondestructive test of evaluating existing
masonry structure.
 It does not require removal of masonry units - only the removal of
small portions of mortar is enough.
 The flat jack test uses small, thin, hydraulic jacks to apply a force
to a section of an existing masonry wall, and the method uses
measuring devices to determine the resulting displacement of the
masonry.
 Flat jack testing can determine the engineering properties of
existing structures for structural evaluation. This method is also
used to determine the in situ stress and compressive strength of
masonry structures.
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The measurement consists of two distinct phases:
1. cutting a slot (preferably by a diamond saw)
2. Insertion of a flat jack into the slot and pressurization until
compensation (re-establishing the deformation stage prior to saw
cutting).
The in-situ stress is evaluated using the following equation:
𝝈𝒎 = 𝝆 𝒌 𝒎 𝒌 𝒂
Where; σm = in-situ stress component to be determined,
ρ = restoration pressure in flat jack at full compensation,
km = flat jack calibration factor < 1
ka = proportion of area of flat jack to area of slot
𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑡 𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑘
<1=
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑡
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Applications:

 It can be used to determine masonry compressive

modulus, which is the stress/strain relationship of the
masonry, or axial stress by applying axial load and
measuring resulting axial deformation.
 It can be used to estimate compressive strength and
measure the shear strength.
 If the destruction of the masonry units is acceptable, it
can be used to directly measure the compressive strength
by testing the masonry to failure.

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It is generally of two types:
1. Single flat jack test or in situ stress test
i. First of all, a flat jack is inserted at the specified location,
and gauge points are fixed above and below the position
of the flat jack. Gauge points are used to determine
reference fields of displacement.
ii. Now mortar is replaced from joint and slot is inserted.
iii. As this method is based on the principle of principal
stress relief, slot cutting helps to achieve the relief
purpose.
iv. After inserting the slot and applying pressure. The test is
terminated. Finally, the gauge distance is restored to the
initial value.
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2.Double flat jack test or in situ deformability test

i) In this method we require two slots parallel to each other.

ii) The slots or jackets are inserted in the masonry structure by
removing the mortar from joints.
iii) After this equal amount of pressure is applied in both jacks.
iv) Due to increase in pressure there is decrease in gauge
distance.
v) Continuous loading and unloading is performed and load
displacement nature is determined.
vi) After the load displacement diagram turns non linear,
theloading is stopped.
Double Flat-Jack Test
Ultrasonic Pulse testing method:
Ultrasound is created by mechanical particle pulses
over 20 kHz. As to building material, probes featuring
40 to 150 kHz are used.
When an ultrasonic wave propagates through an
environment, particles of the late pulsate in different
ways in relation to wave course. Based on that, we
differentiate ultrasonic waves into longitudinal,
transverse, surface, and plate waves.
With a longitudinal wave, the environment particles
pulsate along the straight course in the direction of
wave propagation.
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The equation below shows the calculation of ultrasonic pulse velocity
taking into account time passing through the testing base and length of
the same as follows:
L
V=
T
Where; V-ultrasonic pulse velocity [km/s], L-length of measuring base
[mm], T-transit time [𝜇𝑠].
On the basis of ultrasonic pulse velocity and density, dynamic modulus
of elasticity related to the tested material was calculated using relation
given below.

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Where:
EU = dynamic modulus of elasticity [MPa],
V-ultrasonic pulse velocity [km/s],
D = density of brick [kg/m3],
k = ambient dimensionality ratio,
Which depends on the minimum specimen dimension and Poisson's ratio.

Ultrasonic pulse method testing is affected by number of factors such

as moisture, structural defects of test material, dimension/shape of test
sample, sensing probe frequency of its own, as well as means of
acoustic feedback between sensing probes and test material. These
factors are essential with methodology of particular material tested.

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Push shear test:
 Push shear is a minimally destructive technique
that is used for in situ measurement of masonry
mortar joint strength index.
 This test uses a calibrated hydraulic ram and
pressure gauge to measure the actual shear strength
of a traditional brick wall, and thus its seismic
resistance.
 A single brick beside the brick being tested is
removed to accommodate the hydraulic ram.
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Push Shear Test
Test method A:
This test determines the joint shear strength index and the coefficient
of friction of the unit mortar interface. The test uses flat jack or
hydraulic ram to apply compressive stress to the shear test location.
The relationship between the joint shear strength index and
compressive stress is established by performing the shear test at
incremental levels of compressive stress (i.e. vertically at different
levels).
The joint shear strength index measurements are plotted versus the
applied vertical compressive stress in the wall. The slope of best fit
line through these points is the masonry coefficient of friction.
The test method A is the most precise approach for determining the
joint shear strength index because the coefficient of friction of
masonry is measured rather than assumed.
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Test method B:
In this method the test arrangement is same as in test method A but the
measurement of horizontal displacement is not required. The magnitude
of normal compressive stress is estimated based on the location of the
test unit in the structure and vertical loads acting above the test unit is
estimated.
The joint shear strength index that would be obtained under zero
vertical stress is calculated by subtracting the contribution of the
overburden stress to the shear resistance.
Overburden stress = estimated vertical load * masonry’s coefficient of
friction.
The coefficient of friction of masonry is taken from available data
which could include result of test method A in the same building or
published value. ASTM standard provides a suggested range for the
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coefficient of friction based on laboratory tests.
Test method C:
This method uses a special flat jack to apply horizontal load on the test
unit and the measurement of the horizontal displacement is not required.
As in test method B, the magnitude of normal compressive stress is
estimated at the test location. It follows the same procedure as method B
but test method C requires removal of only head joints on the both ends
of the test unit instead of removing head joints with a brick unit. A small
flat jack is inserted into the head joint at one end of the test unit.
The joint shear strength index is determined in the same manner as for
method B except that the horizontal force is calculated by applying the
appropriate conversions to the hydraulic pressure recorded in the loading
jack.

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