Seismic Capacity Assessment of Confined Brick Masonry Building: An Experimental Approach

Asfandyar Ahmed,Muhammad Tayyab Naqash,Khan Shahzada,Bashir Alam,Sajjad Wali Khan,Imad Ahmad,Muhammad Fahad

doi:10.1155/2018/4756352

Asfandyar Ahmed, Muhammad Tayyab Naqash + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4756352

Copy DOI

Abstract

Brick masonry is widely used for building construction throughout the world. However, unreinforced brick masonry buildings performed poorly in the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, in Pakistan, resulting in a decline in the use of brick masonry. In order to investigate and quantify the performance of brick masonry against the seismic forces by confining it through typical stiffer, line elements (column and beams), a full-scaled room model of an area 3048 × 3658 mm (10 × 12 ft) and height of 3353 mm (11 ft) was constructed using confined brick masonry. The model was tested under quasistatic loading system. Crack pattern was noted at the end of each loading cycle. The response of the model was interpreted through a hysteresis curve, which was then idealized by a bilinear curve. A comparison of the results has been made with four different studies done on the similar model made of unreinforced brick masonry before and after retrofitting and unreinforced concrete block masonry before and after retrofitting previously tested at the same testing facility.

Highlights

One of the most important characteristics of masonry construction is its simplicity
The model was constructed on the strong floor of the Earthquake Engineering Center at the University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, Pakistan
(1) The test results reveal that the confined brick masonry is more robust and ductile against the seismic forces because of the confining elements that hold the whole model to act as single mass unit

Summary

Introduction

One of the most important characteristics of masonry construction is its simplicity. Putting pieces of bricks/blocks/ stones on top of each other, with cohesion via mortar, is a simple, though adequate technique. In spite of its advantages, masonry has been replaced by concrete and steel as a structural material in many parts of the developed world, in seismically active regions. The low tensile strength and ductility of the masonry seem to be the most important drawbacks to its implementation in building (Magenes 2006) [1]. The tensile strength and ductility of unconfined brick masonry are inferior to those of confined brick masonry. Masonry buildings were usually constructed based on rules of thumb obtained over many years of practice and/or empirical data from testing. Nowadays most of the building codes allow for elastic design of the structures with the result that such structures may be allowed to damage in an earthquake, but their collapse should be prevented, and the occupants of the building should be able to evacuate safely [2]

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion