Lateral Resistance of Brick Masonry Walls: A Rational Application of Different Strength Criteria Based on In-plane Test Results

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the assessment and design of masonry buildings, several strength criteria can be applicable according to the prevailing mechanism, since masonry walls subjected to horizontal cyclic excitations, such as seismic actions, can be characterized by flexural/rocking modes, shear and sliding failures or by a combination of them. Several studies and correlations between different existing formulations have been performed in the past and are already available in the literature, but a lack of unanimous consensus still remains on the more rational criteria for the evaluation of the lateral strength of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls. This topic becomes even more relevant after the recent release of new structural codes, which propose, for existing buildings, different alternative formulations for the calculation of the in-plane shear strength of URM piers, making the choice of the more suitable approach to adopt rather intricate, above all when dealing with brick masonry. The aim of this study is to clarify the application of the different strength expressions specifically for the case of brick masonry walls. In order to achieve that, a systematic comparison between the results obtained from the application of different expressions with the experimental data coming from in-plane cyclic tests of brick masonry walls has been performed. This study has allowed to identify a more rational application of the various strength formulations in the case of brick walls, providing a basis for the improvement of the codified approaches and an useful tool for professionals.