Feasibility experiments of seismic concrete block walls without joint mortar

Abstract

The authors developed two types of block systems consisting only of main block and key block without joint mortar in consideration of seismic performance and workability. Two types of block systems have different key block shapes: One is the peanuts shape and the other is the dumbbell shape. In this study, the proposed two types of block walls as well as a typical block wall were experimentally investigated to evaluate the seismic performance. In the tests, full-scale, single-story specimens were tested under static cyclic in-plane loading, and failure patterns and cracks were carefully observed. In this paper, the loading bearing capacity, energy dissipation capacity and reuse ratio of block walls are discussed in detail. As a result, the deformability, energy absorption capacity and reuse ratio of the proposed block systems were considerably higher than those of typical block system.