Experimental Studies on the Behavior of a Newly-Developed Type of Self-Insulating Concrete Masonry Shear Wall under in-Plane Cyclic Loading

Abu-Bakre Abdelmoneim Elamin Mohamad,Zhongfan Chen

doi:10.3390/app7050463

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the inelastic behavior of a newly-developed type of self-insulating concrete masonry shear wall (SCMSW) under in-plane cyclic loading. The new masonry system was made from concrete blocks with special configurations to provide a stronger bond between units than ordinary concrete masonry units. A total of six fully-grouted SCMSWs were prepared with different heights (1.59 to 5.78 m) and different vertical steel configurations. The developed masonry walls were tested under in-plane cyclic loading and different constant axial load ratios. In addition, the relationship between the amount of axial loading, the amount of the flexural reinforcement and the wall aspect ratios and the nonlinear hysteretic response of the SCMSW was evaluated. The results showed that the lateral load capacity of SCMSW increases with the amount of applied axial load and the amount of vertical reinforcement. However, the lateral load capacity decreases as the wall aspect ratio increases. The existence of the boundary elements at the SCMSW ends increases the ductility and the lateral load capacity. Generally, the SCMSW exhibited predominantly flexural behavior. These results agreed with those reported in previous research for walls constructed with ordinary units.

Highlights

Masonry shear walls are commonly designed to resist the effect of gravity load and lateral load resulting from an earthquake excitation or wind loading
The experimental program was designed to investigate the amount of the flexural reinforcement, the level of axial compressive stress and the aspect ratio on the flexural behavior of a new type of self-insulating concrete masonry shear wall (SCMSW)
The strain gauges located in first and fifth course of SCMSW specimens recorded no significant strain, meaning that only negligible strains developed in these bars

Summary

Introduction

Masonry shear walls are commonly designed to resist the effect of gravity load and lateral load resulting from an earthquake excitation or wind loading. The first type is a flexural failure, which is defined by the presence of crushing the masonry in the plastic hinge region or the tensile yielding of the vertical reinforcement [3,4,5,6,7,8]. The second type is a shear failure, which is defined by the presence of diagonal tensile cracking or sliding shear along the mortar bed joints. This type of failure should be avoided due to its relative brittleness and rapid strength degradation after it reaches its maximum strength [9,10,11,12,13,14]

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