Fiber-Reinforced Cement Mortar for Brick Masonry

Abstract

Masonry construction has some advantages in comparison to reinforced concrete and steel construction. Masonry buildings are widely used for housing construction not only in India but in many parts of the world. These advantages are thermal comfort, sound control, possibility of addition and alterations after construction, less form work, easy and inexpensive repair, use of locally available material, need of less skilled labor and less engineering intervention, etc. Seismic resistance capacity of masonry construction is relatively low in comparison to engineering construction; the damage is more during earthquake in case of masonry structures. Most of the casualties are due to collapse of these constructions in earthquake. In order to improve seismic performance, masonry is reinforced with some reinforcement, i.e., steel reinforcement bars, which in turn are expensive and lack the ability to absorb mechanical impact. Fiber-reinforced cement mortar can be used for brick masonry to improve its capacity.
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