Masonry units

Masonry units
 Masonry units
A masonry structure (wall) is formed by combining
masonry units, such as stone, blocks, or brick, with
mortar. Masonry is one of the oldest construction
materials. Examples of ancient masonry structures
include the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of
China, and Greek and Roman ruins. Bricks of nearly
uniform size became commonly used in Europe
during the beginning of the 13th century. The first
extensive use of bricks in the United States was
around 1600. In the last two centuries, bricks have
been used in constructing sewers, bridge piers, tunnel
linings, and multistory buildings.
 There is two types of masonry:
• Structured/load-bearing this is used for exterior walls.
• Non structured/non load-bearing this is used for
interior walls.
Masonry units, shown in Figure 1, are a popular
construction material throughout the world and
competes favorably with other materials, such as
wood, steel, and concrete for certain applications.
Several different types of masonry units are
commonly used. Common masonry unit types include
clay and concrete units, which may be solid or
hollow, and glazed or unglazed. Other masonry unit
types include cast stone and calcium silicate units.
 Concrete masonry units
• A Concrete masonry unit (CMU) – also called
concrete block, cement block, and foundation
block – is a large rectangular brick used in
construction. Concrete blocks are made from
cast concrete, example:
• Portland cement and aggregate, usually sand
and fine gravel for high-density blocks. Lower
density blocks may use industrial wastes as an
aggregate.
• Solid concrete units are commonly called
concrete bricks, while hollow units are known as
concrete blocks, hollow blocks, or cinder blocks.
• Hollow units have a net cross-sectional area in
every plane parallel to the bearing surface less
than 75% of the gross cross-sectional area in the
same plane.
• If this ratio is 75% or more, the unit is
categorized as solid
• Concrete masonry units are specified by their
nominal dimensions. The nominal dimension is
greater than its specified (or modular) dimension
by the thickness of the mortar joint, usually 10
mm.
Figure (2): Concrete masonry units: (a) stretcher, (b)
single-corner, and (c) double-corner.
 Nominal vs. Actual Dimensions
As with Block , CMUs have actual dimensions
and nominal dimensions. The nominal
dimension of a CMU is the actual
dimension plus the width of the mortar
joint. Typical CMU mortar joints are
3/8". The nominal dimension works within the
4" grid that other construction materials
follow. The graphic below shows the
difference between nominal and actual sizes.
 Concrete Block Dimensions
• A 200 x 200 x 400 block has an actual width of
190 mm, height of 190 mm, and length of 390
mm.
• Load-bearing concrete masonry units are
available in nominal widths of 100 mm, 150
mm, 200 mm, 250 mm, and 300 mm, heights of
100 mm and 200 mm, and lengths of
• 300 mm, 400 mm, and 600 mm.
 Advantages:
1. High durability
2. Different surfaces with different color
shades
3. Very good variability of use
Disadvantages:
1. High weight
2. Lower thermal resistance
3. Demanding – labour consumption
 Manufacturing of CMU
Manufacturing process of concrete blocks
consists of four basic processes: (a) mixing, (b)
molding, (c) curing, and (d) cubing as shown in
Figure 3
(a) Mixing:
• Raw materials are weighed out in proportions
and transported to the mixer.
• All raw materials are mixed for 6 to 8 minutes
• Very dry, no-slump concrete
 (b) Molding
• From the mixer the materials enter the block molding machine
• The molds consist of an outer mold box containing several mold liners.
• The molds are vibrated for 7 seconds.
• After the mold is removed the block are able to stand by themselves
(c) Curing
• The concrete blocks are placed in a curing rack. Each rack holds several hundred blocks.
• When a rack is full, it is rolled onto a set of rails and moved into a curing kiln.
• Blocks remain in the curing kilns for 24 hours. They are baked in a moist steam heat at
60 οC
(d) Cubing.
• The rake of cured blocks is rolled out of the kiln.
• The blocks pass through a cuber which aligns each block and then stacks them into a
cube
• Three blocks across by six blocks deep by three or four blocks high.
• These cubes are carried outside with a forklift and placed in storage.
Figure (3) : Four basic processes of the
manufacturing process of concrete blocks: (a)
mixing, (b) molding, (c) curing, and (d) cubing.
 Properties of Concrete Masonry
units
Concrete masonry units are manufactured in
three classes, based on their density:
lightweight units, medium-weight units, and
normal-weight units, with dry unit weights as
shown in Table 1. Well graded sand, gravel,
and crushed stone are used to manufacture
normal-weight units. Lightweight aggregates
such as pumice, scoria, cinders, expanded clay,
and expanded shale are used to manufacture
lightweight units.
Table (1): Weight classifications and allowable maximum
water absorption of concrete masonry units
 Water Absorption
The amount of water absorption of concrete
masonry units is controlled to reduce the effect
of weathering and to limit the amount of
shrinkage due to moisture loss after
construction. The absorption of concrete
masonry units is determined by immersing the
unit in water for 24 hours. The absorption and
moisture content are calculated as follows.
Where:
Ws = saturated weight of specimen, (kg)
Wd = oven-dry weight of unit, (kg),
Wi = immersed weight of specimen, (kg), and
Wr = weight of specimen as received

Table 1 shows the allowable maximum water absorption for load-bearing

concrete masonry units.
 Compressive Strength
Concrete masonry units can be classified as
load bearing and non–load bearing. Load-
bearing units must satisfy a higher minimum
compressive strength requirement than non–
load-bearing units, as shown in Table 2.
 Applications of CMU
The typical uses for concrete block include:
• Foundation walls - typically rock faced.
• Basement walls.
• Partition walls - usually plain faced.
• Exterior walls - usually plain faced and then often covered
with stucco.
• Most concrete block was used as a back-up material or for
cavity wall construction.
• Coatings are often are applied to concrete block in order to
prevent water penetration.
• Lightweight units have higher thermal and fire resistance
properties and lower sound resistance than normal weight
units.
 Types of Masonry Walls
Masonry walls are the most durable part of any
building or structure. They provide strength,
durability to the structure and also helps to control
indoor temperature. Based on the wall construction,
the types of masonry walls are:
• Load Bearing Masonry Walls
• Reinforced Masonry Walls
• Hollow Masonry Walls
• Composite Masonry Walls
• Post-tensioned Masonry Walls
 Load Bearing Masonry Walls
Load bearing masonry walls are constructed
with bricks, stones or concrete blocks. These
walls directly transfer loads from the roof to the
foundation. These walls can be exterior as well
as interior walls. The construction system with
load bearing walls are economical than the
system with framed Structures.
The thickness of load bearing walls is based on the quantity of
load from roof it has to bear. For example, a load bearing wall
with just a ground floor can have its outer walls of 230mm, while
with one or more floors above it, based on occupancy type, its
thickness may be increased. The load bearing walls can be
reinforced or unreinforced masonry walls.
 Reinforced masonry walls
Reinforced masonry walls can be load bearing
walls or non-load bearing walls. The use of
reinforcement in walls helps it to withstand
tension forces and heavy compressive loads. The
unreinforced masonry walls are prone to cracks
and failure under heavy compressive loads and
during earthquakes. They have little ability to
withstand lateral forces during heavy rain and
wind. Cracks also develop in un-reinforced
masonry walls due to earth pressure or differential
settlement of foundations.
To overcome such problems, reinforced masonry walls are
used. Reinforcement in walls are at required intervals both
horizontally and vertically is used. The size of
reinforcement, their quantity and spacing are determined
based on the loads on the walls and structural conditions.

Figure: Example of a vertically reinforced masonry wall

 Hollow Masonry Walls
Hollow or Cavity masonry walls are used to
prevent moisture reaching the interior of the
building by providing hollow space between
outside and inside face of the wall. These walls
also help in temperature control inside the
building from outside wall as the hollow space
restricts heat to pass through the wall.
When the wall is exposed to moisture for a sustained period
and penetrates through the outer face, the water reaches the
cavity or the hollow space and flows down. Then they are
drained through the weep holes to the exterior of the building.
These hollow spaces may be coated with water repellent
coating or damp-proofing to further reduce the ingress of
moisture.

Figure: Hollow masonry walls

 Composite Masonry Walls
These walls are constructed with two or more units such as
stones or bricks and hollow bricks. This type of masonry wall
construction is done for better appearance with economy.
In composite masonry walls, two wythes of
masonry units are constructed bonding with each
other. While one wythe can be brick or stone
masonry while the other can be hollow bricks. A
wythe is a continuous vertical section of masonry
one unit in thickness. These wythes are
interconnected either by horizontal joint
reinforcement or by using steel ties.
Post-Tensioned Masonry Walls
Post-tensioned masonry walls are constructed
to strengthen the masonry walls against the
forces that may induce tension in the wall such
as earthquake forces or wind forces. These
walls are constructed from the foundation level
and post-tensioning rods are anchored into the
foundation.
These rods are run vertically between the wythes
or in the core of concrete masonry units. After
the masonry wall construction is completed and
cured, these rods are tensioned and anchored on
the steel place at the top of the wall.

Figure: Post-tensioning of masonry walls.

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