DESIGN OF MASONRY STRUCTURES

Assignment 1

MORTAR, TYPES OF MORTAR, SELECTION OF

MORTAR, PROPERTIES OF MORTAR, DEFECTS
AND ERRORS IN MORTAR

Submitted By

NAME: SOWMYA V

USN: 1SJ18CSE13

3RD SEM

M.Tech (Structural Engineering)

SJCIT, Chickballapur

 MORTAR: It is the mixture used to get the masonry units to stick

together.
Materials used in mortar:

1. Cementations materials
 Portland cement
 Lime
 Portland pozzolona cement
2. Aggregates
 Fine Aggregates
 Course Aggregates

 CLASSIFICATION OF MORTAR

Sl MORTAR TYPE MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS

no
1 Lime Mortar Lime and Sand
 Good
workability
 Slow setting
time
 Low modulus
 Better water
retentivity
2 Cement Mortar Cement and Sand
 Good
workability
 High Modulus
3 Composite Mortar Cement, Lime & Sand
 Good
workability
 Slow setting
time
 Low modulus
4 Cement soil Mortar Cement. Soil and
 Good
Sand workability
 Slow setting
time
 Low modulus

5 Cement Pozzolona Cement, Pozzolona

 Good
Mortar and sand workability
 Better water
retentivity
6 LP Mortar (Lime Lime, Pozzolona,
 Good
Pozzolona Mortar) Cement and Sand workability
 Slow setting
time
 Low modulus
 Better water
retentivity

 SELECTION OF MORTAR
Selection of Mortar depends upon the following factors:
 Type of masonry and the strength of individual masonry units.
 Use of masonry
 Load carrying capacity of masonry
 Moisture penetration
 Frost Resistance

 PROPERTIES OF MORTAR
1. STRENGTH OF MORTAR: Mortar compressive strength is
related to the masonry strength. Increase in masonry strength does
 not significantly increase the masonry compressive strength. It is
general practice to select weak mortar and strong brick for masonry
construction.
2. WORKABILITY: Workability of mortar should be such that it
allows the mortar to spread easily and adheres well to the masonry
unit.
3. WATER RETENTIVITY: Fresh mortar is sandwich between
bricks during construction. Moisture flow can take place from
water rich mortar joint to the brick. The amount of water sucked by
the masonry unit like brick from the mortar depends upon the
porosity and moisture content of the brick at the time of
construction.
4. AIR CONTENT: The air content of mortar in its plastic state is
also important. In order to achieve good durability it is necessary
that there is sufficient air content to enable freeze thaw cycle to be
resisted without disrupting the matrix of the material.
5. BULK DENSITY: Where mortar is derived on a volume basis it is
discharged into containers, sometimes known as skips or tubs. The
density of the material must be taken into account in determining
both the loads that can be safely lifted or stored in elevators
positions and the required quantity of mortar to lay a given number
of units.
6. Adhesion: There should be a good bond between the mortar and
the brick or block for the masonry to perform satisfactory.

 DEFECTS AND ERRORS IN MORTAR

Defects occur due to the following reasons.
 1. Sulphate attack: Sulphate salts present in brick react with
alumina content of cement and hydraulic lime in the lime
mortar causing increase in the volume of mortar.
2. Crystallization of salts from brick: This defect commonly
occurs in masonry which is made of bricks containing soluble
salts. When such bricks come in contact with water the soluble
salts get dissolved and appear in the form of fine whitish
crystals on the brick. This phenomenon is known as
efflorescence.
3. Corrosion of embedded iron or steel: Iron or steel embedded
in brickwork gets corroded in the presence of dampness, on
corrosion the metal expands in volume and tends to crack the
volume.
4. Shrinkage on drying: Brickwork normally swells with the
absorption of water and subsequently shrinks when the water
evaporates. If the mortar used in the masonry is lean, the cracks
are distributed over large number of joints and in case of rich
mortar the cracks are few but wider such cracks do not effect
he structural strength of the brick work can easily rectified this
defect can be prevented by using good quality bricks and by
protecting masonry from moisture penetration.
 ERRORS IN MASONRY CONSTRUCTION
1. Concentrated loads on masonry: The contact stress between
a beam bearing and a supporting masonry wall may
considerably exceed the uniaxial strength of the material. This
may cause failure of masonry due to crushing of material
[Brick/Mortar]

2. Chases in masonry : In Practical building construction the

need accommodate electrical wiring conduct, switch boxes and
 other fitting frequently leads to the cutting of chases and holes
in brick wall; if the walls are slender this may leads to an
appreciable reduction in strength.

3. Effect of workmanship factors:

a) In correct proportioning and mixing of mortar: Proper
proportion selection should be made depending upon the
type of work and type of mortar to be used for masonry.
b) In correct adjustment of suction rate: In order to achieve
optimum brick work strength it has long been realized that
the suction rate in brick should be controlled to prevent
excessive removal of water from the mortar.
c) In correct jointing procedures: A variety of defects can
arise from incomplete filling of joints and some evidence is
available on the structure effect of these defects. Un filled
vertical joints does not have significant difference in the
strength