During the last decades natural polymers have become more and more frequent to replace traditional inorganic stabilizers in building materials. The purpose of this research is to establish a comparison between the most conventional building material solutions for load-bearing walls and a type of biomaterial. This comparison will focus on load-bearing walls as used in a widespread type of twenti...

Static-cyclic shear load tests and tensile tests on retrofitted masonry walls were conducted at UAS Fribourg for an evaluation of the newly developed retrofitting system, the S&P ARMO-System. This retrofitting system consists of a composite of carbon mesh embedded in a specially adapted high quality spray mortar. It can be applied with established construction techniques using traditional const...

Masonry is one of the world’s most durable construction materials. Masonry structures can remain in service for hundreds or even thousands of years. Masonry structures often outlive their designers, their original design documents, and their original functions. When historic masonry structures are evaluated for preservation, adaptive use, or additions, there are numerous questions that may aris...

This paper describes a methodology for analyzing the impulse pressure response of unreinforced concrete masonry walls that have been retrofitted with membranes that are not bonded to the masonry (catcher systems). Membrane catcher systems can be used to protect building occupants from secondary debris resulting from blast pressure, and the effectiveness of systems comprising polymers, composite...

We present a micromanufacturing method for constructing microsystems, which we term ‘micro-masonry’ based on individual manipulation, influenced by strategies for deterministic materials assembly using advanced forms of transfer printing. Analogous to masonry in construction sites, micro-masonry consists of the preparation, manipulation, and binding of microscale units to assemble microcomponen...

abstract since for some reasons such as studying the behaviour of old construction materials and proper replacement of the deteriorated sections, adequate knowledge about the true in situ strength of the construction materials has become a necessity, many attempts have been made to invent and develop new in situ methods in recent years. most of these methods measure the in situ strengths of mat...

The paradigm shift of digital fabrication encourages architects to incorporate the knowledge of using innovative materials and novel tools to solve problems in design and construction. However, the application of digital fabrication still needs more flexibility that allows different groups in a society to redesign fabrication processes based on their own needs and values. Looking at robotic fac...

Work in masonry is divided in different tasks and performed by sub-contractors. Sub-contractors specialize in a given skill to accomplish a specific construction task and usually work with crews. Due to this specialization, multiple crews with different skills are present on the jobsite at any one time and the sub-contractor is responsible of configuring crews to produce good quality work by me...

The construction industry is the largest consumer of natural resources which led to depletion of good quality natural sand (Fine aggregates). This situation led us to explore alternative materials and granular slag a waste industrial byproduct is one such material identified for utilization it as replacement of natural sand. This paper highlights upon the feasibility study for the utilization o...