Structural Behavior of Masonry Walls Built with Bricks Manufactured with Geopolymer Concrete under Vertical Load

The use of cement bricks in construction projects has raised concerns about the environmental impact of cement production. The production of 1000 bricks consumes 8 - 10 cement bags. To address these concerns, Geopolymer bricks have emerged as a more sustainable alternative for its eco-friendliness. The current study is a comprehensive study conducted to evaluate the structural performance of Geopolymer bricks compared to cement bricks walls and prisms. The study included comparisons between mode of failure, ultimate capacity and load-strain relationships of walls with and without openings. The researcher manufactured the cement and Geopolymer bricks used in the current study at a brick factory in the tenth of Ramadan city in Egypt. Moreover, Geopolymer mortar was used to build the Geopolymer bricks walls and prisms. The experimental program consisted of six walls were constructed; three walls were constructed using Geopolymer bricks, while the other three walls were made of cement bricks. Each type of brick included a solid wall, a wall with a door opening and a wall with a window opening. The production of Geopolymer bricks, as an alternative to cement bricks, offers several advantages; Geopolymer bricks were stronger by 21.76% than cement bricks. In addition, Geopolymer mortar can use as a substitute for cement mortar. Additionally, solids wall made of Geopolymer bricks were stronger than 15.38% those made of cement bricks. Contrary, Geopolymer brick walls and prisms showed lower initial stiffness than the corresponding cement brick walls and prisms.