Twenty Years of Improvement in the Seismic Performance of Masonry Veneer Construction

Abstract

A lot of clay has flowed through the kilns since the 1989 Newcastle earthquake. Several significant changes have occurred to make masonry veneer construction safer and stronger over this period, both in the methods of construction of the veneer and the understanding of the behaviour of the veneer panels. These changes have lead to the conclusion that masonry veneer construction can be reliably considered to provide some bracing resistance to a light timber-framed structure, even if only to resist its own inertial loads. Recent research undertaken at BRANZ has investigated the behaviour of full-scale brick veneer single- and two-storey buildings under slow static and dynamic cyclic loading. This paper describes the developments that have occurred since 1989 and this recent research that has provided the new confidence in the seismic performance of clay brick veneer.