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Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Kimberly Waggle Kramer and Bill Zhang / Concrete masonry units are a common method of construction in the world. Since the masonry units can be constructed with ease. Fifty billion water bottles are consumed every year. Lack of waste management and recycling in third world countries has come to the attention of many organizations. The use of plastic bottles in construction materials has been around for the past twenty years, but with little focus on using full plastic bottles in the materials. The Engineers Without Borders student group on the campus at Kansas State University have found a way to utilize the full 500-mL plastic bottle in the creation of concrete walls. The bottles laid horizontally with concrete on both sides and as mortar between the bottles was used. These bottles create large voids in the wall decreasing the compressive strength of the wall. This thesis presents the results of a study conducted to determine the compressive strength of concrete masonry units with plastic bottle cores. The plastic bottles were used to create the center voids in the masonry units. Concrete was placed around the bottles to encase them in the masonry units. The study utilized 500-mL plastic bottles from five different water companies placed inside masonry units of 7.87-inch wide by 8.26-inch high by 15.75-inch long (200-mm wide by 210-mm high by 400-mm long) in size and analyzed the resultant compressive strength. The testing for compressive strength was determined according to the ASTM C140 standard. Results from this study were deemed reasonable due to the testing of concrete cylinders as a control compressive strength. Determination of the compressive strength of the concrete masonry units allows for further study to continue in concrete masonry units with plastic bottle cores to determine if they are viable in third world countries.

An experimental program was conducted to investigate some aspects of in-plane behaviour of masonry infilled steel frames. Eight concrete masonry infilled steel frames, consisting of three fully grouted and five partially grouted infills, were tested under combined lateral and axial loading. All specimens were constructed using one-third scale concrete masonry units. The in-plane lateral load was gradually increased at the frame top beam level until the failure of the specimen while an axial load was applied to the top beam and held constant. The parameters of the study included axial load, extent of grouting, opening, and aspect ratio of the infill. The experimental results were used, along with other test results from the literature, to evaluate the efficacy of stiffness and strength predictions by some theoretical methods with a focus on Canadian and American design codes. Cracking pattern, stiffness, failure mode, crack strength, and ultimate strength of the specimens were monitored and reported. Presence of axial load was found to increase the ultimate strength of the infilled frame but had no marked effect on its stiffness. Two specimens exhibited “splitting failure” due to axial load. Partially grouted specimens developed extensive diagonal cracking prior to failure whereas fully grouted specimens showed little or no cracking prior to failure. An increase in grouting increased the ultimate strength of the frame system but reduced its ductility. Presence of opening reduced the ultimate strength of the infilled frame and increased its ductility but its effect on the stiffness of the frame system was not significant. A review of current Canadian and American design codes showed that the Canadian code significantly overestimates the stiffness of infilled frames whereas the American code provides improved predictions for stiffness of these frame systems. Both design codes underestimate the strength of masonry infilled steel frames but grossly overestimate the strength of masonry infilled RC frames. / Masonry infilled steel frames tested under combined axial and lateral loading. Behaviour as affected by axial load, grouting, aspect ratio and openings discussed. Correlation between axial load level and the infill lateral resistance examined. Efficacy of the Canadian and American masonry standards on infill design was examined.

The diploma thesis deals with the development of a new masonry system, for the production of which recycled brick could be used as a secondary raw material. In the field of literary research, the work deals with the methods of construction of vertical structures, the possibilities of lightening concrete, the life cycle of building materials and the use of secondary raw materials in construction. In the practical part, a masonry system was designed based on market research in the field of internal non-load-bearing masonry structures and requirements for these structures. In order to achieve these properties, concrete was chosen as the material for its production, where recycled brick was used as an alternative aggregate. As it is supposed to be a system for precise masonry, the material was compacted by vibrocompression. At the beginning, recipes were designed to verify the basic properties of concrete: density of hardened concrete, compressive strength and tensile bending strength, then other properties such as thermal conductivity and sound absorption coefficient were tested on improved recipes. Lightening and dimensional modules have been modified to achieve optimal properties. This was followed by a proposal for the method of masonry and surface treatment of a wall. Finally, the economic and environmental aspects of the masonry system were evaluated.

The thesis summarizes the methods used to test and evaluate the characteristics of vertical masonry structures and further shows the evaluation procedure according to ČSN ISO 13 822. In the second part of this work there is a practical example of brick building assess-ment process, including determining the strength of the walls and the conversion of select-ed critical elements of the existing structure – window pier and wooden beamed ceiling.

The determination of strain properties of masonry in the direction parallel to bed joints is a fundamental pre-requisite for designing structures, where masonry is subjected to horizontal stresses (e. g. strengthening with prestressing). The diploma thesis summarized techniques of determination of masonry modulus of elasticity presented in available literature. The goal is to suggest suitable methodology of determination of masonry modulus in direction parallel to the bed joints. In the practical part of the diploma thesis is that methodology verified by experimental test and results of tests are analyzed and discussed.