Chapter 9:

Masonry walls under lateral loads

9.1 Elements of lateral load resisting masonry system
9.2 In-plane and out-of-plane behavior of masonry walls
9.3 Failure behavior of masonry wall in lateral loads
9.4 Analysis for stresses on masonry walls under lateral loads.
9.5 Ductile behavior of reinforced and unreinforced masonry structures
Introduction

 The brick masonry buildings are brittle structure.

 They are one of the most vulnerable type of building of all types during earthquake (lateral
loads).
 Due to large mass of masonry structures, heavy weight attracts large amount of seismic forces.
 Stress concentration occurs at the corners and joints.
 Thus, it is essential to improve the performance of brick masonry building during the earthquake.
Masonry building has three basic components

 Roof
 Wall
 Foundation
 Elements of lateral load resisting
masonry system
 Foundation band
 Vertical reinforcement (every corners
and jambs of opening )
 Horizontal bands (sill/ lintels/ gable/
roof)
 Well connected floor / roof
 Size and positions of openings.
Failure mode of masonry building

 If masonry is weak in tensile and shear following failure occurs

 Out of plane failure
 In plane failure
 Diaphragm failure
 Connection failure
 Failure due to opening of wall
 Pounding
 Non structural components failure
Out-of-plane failure

 The earthquake force is perpendicular to the plane

 The wall tends to overturn or bend
 This causes the partial or full collapse of building
 This is due to inadequate anchorage of wall and roof, long and slender wall, etc.
 Characterized by vertical cracks at corner, cracks at lintels, roof level and gable wall, etc.
In-plane failure

 The earthquake force is parallel to the plane.

 The wall is shear off or bend
 Diagonal or X cracks occurs
 Characterized by vertical cracks at wall intersection, separation of corners of two walls,
spalling of materials, etc.
 The other features of in plane failure are as
 Diagonal tension cracks
 Vertical cracks at wall intersections
 Spalling of materials
 Crushing of corners
 Separation of corners of two walls
Diaphragm failure

 Lack of anchorage produce a push of diaphragm against the wall

 Absence of good shear transfer between diaphragm and reaction wall accounts for damage at
corner of wall
 Separation of wall and diaphragm cause collapse of buildings
Connection failure

 If the walls are not properly tied together, wall B overturn (out of plane) and wall A slides (in plane) and collapse occurs
 Masonry units should tied properly
Failure due to opening of wall

 Opening will obstruct the flow of forces from one wall to another
 Large opening in shear wall reduces the strength of wall against inertia forces
 Resulting diagonal cracks
 Thus, opening should be small and away from corners.
Pounding

 When the roofs of two adjacent buildings are at different level, during
earthquake, two building strike against each other is called pounding.
 Pounding results into cracking of wall
Non structural components failure

 Falling of plaster from walls and ceilings

 Cracking and overturning of parapets, chimneys
 Falling of loosely placed objects
Major causes of failure of masonry building

 Non-integrity of wall floor and roof

 Configuration- irregularity of building causes torsional effect.
 Large opening of the building
 Inappropriate position of opening.
 Lack of cross wall in large length of wall
 Lack of reinforcement make the masonry building brittle.
 Pounding effect.
 Lack of anchorage element between two walls.
Earthquake

 Earthquake cause shaking of ground, so a

building resting on it will experience
motion at its base.
 The roof has a tendency to stay in its
original position and the roof experiences a
force, called inertia force.
 Inertia force is the multiplication of the
weight and the acceleration, so large the
weight of the building more the earthquake
shaking.
Masonry structures

 Masonry is brittle and tensile and shear strength is very low.

 Due to large mass of masonry structures, heavy weight attracts large amounts
of seismic forces.
 Wall to wall connection and roof connection is generally weak.
 Stress concentration occurs at the corners of windows and doors.
 Ductile behavior of reinforced and
unreinforced masonry

 It is the capacity of an element or structure to undergo large deformation

without failure.
 Masonry is brittle in nature
 Ductility of masonry structure is governed by the ductility of masonry units
and properties of mortar.
 Unreinforced masonry cannot withstand tension so cracks develops.
 In plane and out of plane failure is also due to ductility of masonry.
 To improve ductility, reinforcing bars are embedded in the masonry, called
reinforced masonry which can resist the seismic force more than unreinforced
masonry.
Brittle and ductile force-deformation behavior
 Analysis for stresses on masonry walls under lateral
loads.

 When a wall is subjected to a lateral load such as that resulting from wind,
seismic, bending will occur depending on the lateral support conditions.
 In typical masonry structures, vertical and horizontal supports are provided by
elements such as cross walls , floor and roof.
 Laterally loaded walls transfer their load through combined vertical and
horizontal bending together with the gravity load throughout the wall panel.
 Distribution of stress depends on the uniformity of the masonry and mortar.
 The main weakness of masonry construction can be considered to be the mortar
joint at which inelastic deformation occur or the mortar itself or by sliding of the
joint.
 This causes masonry to have a very complex behavior due to plane of weakness
at the interface.
 Consider a wall subjected to uniformly distributed vertical load P at centre line in one axis as shown
in figure. The force is caused by self weight of wall, other external loading and applied uniform
compressive stress across the section.
 Compressive stress due to load P = P/A ———(i)
 to uniformly distributed vertical load P at centre line in one axis as shown inAgain,
 Consider lateral load ‘w’ KN/m2 applied to the section of wall and corresponding stress is given by
      σb / y = M / I
 or,  σb = M*y / I
 or,  σb = M / Z [∴ I/y = Z]
 where,
 σb = Bending stress
 M = Maximum bending moment
 I = M.O.I about length of wall
 Z = Section modulus
 y = Distance of considered layer from NA
Damage due to lateral load
Walls tend to tear apart
Walls tend to shear off diagonally in direction
Failures at corners of wall
Wall tend to collapse
Failures at corners of openings
Hammering/ pounding between two
adjacent buildings
Separation of wall from roof
Separation on unconnected wall at junction