Axial compressive and cyclic lateral behavior of a structural masonry prism constructed from crushed COVID-19 face masks concrete bricks

Discarded medical face masks endanger the environment worldwide. In this study, experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of a shredded face mask (SFM) at 0% (control mix), 0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0% by volume of concrete in the form of pieces that were 1 cm wide and 2 cm long on the properties of fresh and hardened concrete. After performing experimental testing on the materials, finite element masonry prisms with dimensions of 400 × 200 × 560 mm³ were modeled on the ANSYS platform. Four prisms with different fabric contents were numerically examined to study the compressive behavior, and 12 prisms with three different mortar joints were analyzed under an incremental horizontal load in the presence of four vertical displacements of 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, and 4.5 mm. The results revealed that increasing the SFM content in concrete led to a decrease in fresh and hardened concrete properties, including density, slump, split-tensile strength, and compressive strength, by 9.5%, 20%, 24%, and 34%, respectively, compared with the control concrete at 0.5%. Moreover, the addition of 0.5% SFMs to the prism bricks reduced the maximum compressive load, deflection, and strain energy by 24%, 10%, and 39%, respectively. Altering the mortar type and vertical load affected the lateral cyclic behavior of the prisms. Compared with the M3 prism subjected to the same axial displacement, the M2 prism had 21.36%, 11%, 27.2%, and 10.48% higher lateral peak load, lateral peak displacement, equivalent stress, and strain energy, respectively. Furthermore, the lateral stiffness of the prism increases as the axial pressure increases. The lateral peak load of the M3 prism measured at 1.0, 3.0, and 4.5 mm axial displacement was raised by 60%, 142%, and 182%, respectively, as compared with the same prism at 0.5 mm axial displacement. The outcome provides a feasible concept for reusing masks in concrete construction with controllable strength deterioration on the masonry prism at 0.5% recycled SFM, resulting in attractive responses of these composites at the nonstructural scale