Analysis of safety of slender concrete masonry walls in relation to CSA S304-14

Abstract

The Canadian masonry design standard appears to be overly conservative in determining the capacity of concrete block walls with slenderness ratios greater than 30. When assessing the potential for buckling of a masonry wall according to Euler buckling criteria, the effective height is determined in part from the end supports. In Euler theory only pinned, fixed and free support conditions are considered, and the Canadian standard considers the support conditions to be hinged, elastic or stiff. For a partially reinforced masonry wall a true hinged base support is expected to be difficult to achieve, as the width of the concrete block restrains rotation. The effect of the base support conditions on the deflected shape of partially grouted block walls was investigated under axial and out-of-plane loading. The results of this testing were compared with calculations based on the Canadian masonry standard. It becomes clear that the standard is overly conservative in many cases and the design of slender walls needs to be re-examined.