Masonry, Mortar, and Grout Lecture Notes

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering masonry materials, unit types, testing standards, and structural design terminology.

Mortar

A mixture of cementitious material, aggregate, and water used for bonding masonry units, leveling units, and providing aesthetic quality.

Quicklime

Calcium oxide produced when limestone is burned at $1650 \, F$ to release carbon dioxide.

Hydrated Lime

A substance created when a minimal amount of water satisfies the water demand of quicklime.

Solid CMU

A concrete masonry unit with a net cross section area greater than $75\%$ of the gross area.

Hollow CMU

A concrete masonry unit with a net cross section area less than $75\%$ of the gross area.

Nominal Dimensions

Dimensions that include half of the mortar joint.

Specified Dimensions

The design sizes of a masonry unit, also known as modular dimensions.

Saturation Coefficient

A ratio expressed as cold absorption divided by boiled absorption, or $\frac{W_{s24} - W_d}{W_{b5} - W_d}$.

Initial Rate of Absorption (IRA)

A measure of how quickly a brick will remove water from mortar, calculated as $IRA = \frac{30 \times W}{\text{Net Area}}$; wetting is required if it exceeds $30 \, g/min$.

ASTM C1314

The standard prism test used to determine the specified compressive strength of masonry ($f'_m$).

$$f'_m$$

The specified compressive strength of masonry.

Grout

A high slump concrete consisting of Portland cement, sand, fine gravel, water, and sometimes lime used to fill cores or voids.

Course

A horizontal layer of masonry units in a wall.

Wythe

Each continuous vertical section of wall that is one masonry unit thick.

Collar Joint

Vertical longitudinal spaces between wythes of masonry filled with mortar or grout.

Head Joint

The vertical mortar joint between the ends of masonry units in a course.

Bed Joint

The horizontal layer of mortar on which a masonry unit is laid.

Veneer

A masonry wythe that provides exterior finish and transfers out-of-plane forces but does not add load-resisting capacity.

Composite Wall

A wall system where the wythes act together as a single member to resist structural loads.

Noncomposite Wall

A wall system where each wythe individually resists the loads imposed on it in proportion to its relative stiffness.

Allowable Stress Design (ASD)

A method where masonry elements are sized such that anticipated service level loads do not exceed specified material strengths ($f_{actual} \leq F_{allowable}$).

Unity Equation

An equation used to check members subject to bending, expressed as $\frac{f_a}{F_a} + \frac{f_b}{F_b} \leq 1$.

Buckling Equation

An equation that must always be checked when a wall is in compression, expressed as $P \leq \frac{1}{4} P_e$.