Inelastic Behavior of Concrete Masonry Shear Walls

Abstract

The seismic resistance of story‐height reinforced masonry shear walls has been evaluated experimentally to examine the influence of the applied axial stress and the amount of vertical and horizontal reinforcement on the lateral resistance, failure mechanism, ductility, and energy‐dissipation capability of a wall panel. The results obtained from 16 concrete masonry specimens are summarized in this paper. It has been shown that the flexural strength increases with the applied axial stress and the amount of the vertical reinforcement present. The shear strength dominated by diagonal cracking increases with the amount of vertical and horizontal steel, as well as with the tensile strength of masonry and the applied axial stress. However, the axial stress has a more significant influence on the flexural strength than on the shear strength. Furthermore, increasing the amount of vertical and horizontal reinforcement can substantially improve the postcracked ductility and energy‐dissipation capability of a shear‐dominated specimen.