Behaviour of masonry lateral loaded walls made with sediment-based bricks from the Usumacinta river (Mexico)

A B S T R A C T
A feasibility study on Usumacinta River sediment-based bricks for resilient housing adapted to both climate
change and seismic risks is performed on laterally loaded reduced-scale walls. Mortar formulations with different
volume ratios of lime and sand (2/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/6) are prepared while different types of sediment-based bricks
are thoroughly investigated, manufactured and strength characterized. Commercial fired bricks as reference
bricks completed the set of bricks tested (FRS: Fired River Sediment-based brick (at 850 ◦C); LRS: Lime treated
River Sediment-based unfired brick (1.5% of lime addition); NRS: Natural fiber Reinforced river Sediment-based
unfired brick and FR: commercial Fired Reference brick made without sediment). Walls of different sizes were
built with these types of bricks and mortars. Tests under lateral in-plane loads of walls i.e. pushover tests, were
conducted.
The most significant results are as follows:(1) the addition of lime increases the strength of the mortar; (2) the
wall size effect is observed for wall built with reference bricks (FR) and mortar ratio (1/2), where, large walls
(LW), intermediate walls (IW) and small walls (SW) exhibiting maximum load of about 1200 N, 440 N and 260 N
respectively. Rocking failure mode is the most observed unlike shear and sliding mode which are rarer. (3)
maximum load measured during a pushover test performed on walls with sediment-based bricks provides a
satisfactory average of 130 N, which exceeds the strength recommended for light buildings; The failure mode is
sliding for fired bricks and rocking for unfired bricks. (4) the sediment-based bricks walls give an interesting
ductility to pushover test while (2.6–40).
These results show promising perspectives on the possibility of using the Usumacinta River sediment-based
bricks in walls for light constructions under seismic loading.