Author

T. KVANDE* and K.V. H0ISETH** * Norwegian Building Research Institute ** MARINTEK Department of Structural Engineering

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to study the shrinkage behaviour of Light Expanded Clay Aggregate (LECA) masonry walls restrained at the foundation. To measure the effect of shrinkage reinforcement, the investigation comprised five restrained LECA walls with different amounts of reinforcement. As references, two walls resting on “ideal” sliding layers and three single LECA blocks were tested. Even though no cracking of LECA blocks was observed in the restrained specimens during the test period of 1 1/2 years, the test results indicate that the amount and position of the shrinkage reinforcement influence the magnitude of the horizontal shrinkage. The least horizontal shrinkage was obtained on the wall with most reinforcement (A/Au* 0.67%). The effect of the reinforcement seems, however, to be limited. There was no significant difference between the vertical shrinkage of the restrained walls and the shrinkage of the other specimens. Design values for shrinkage may therefore be derived from tests of single untreated LECA blocks.