In Situ Out-of-Plane Testing of As-Built and Retrofitted Unreinforced Masonry Walls

Abstract

AbstractThe out-of-plane behavior of as-built and retrofitted unreinforced masonry (URM) walls was investigated by conducting in situ static airbag tests in four buildings. The age of the buildings varied from 80 to 130 years, and all but one were constructed using clay brick masonry with timber floor and roof diaphragms. The fourth building was a reinforced concrete frame structure with precracked clay block partition walls in addition to partition walls that appeared undamaged. The test program was composed of testing five one-way vertically spanning solid URM walls from the group of three URM buildings and testing four two-way spanning URM partition walls from the reinforced concrete frame building. All walls were tested with their original support conditions, but three one-way spanning walls were additionally retested with modified support conditions. These additional tests allowed the effects of wall support type to be investigated, including the influence of a concrete ring beam used at the floor le...