Natalie Williams, Michele Godio, Mathias Flansbjer, Magnus Byggnevi and Johan Magnusson
Natalie Williams, Researcher, Applied Mechanics, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Borås, Sweden, natalie.williamsportal@ri.se
Michele Godio, Researcher, Applied Mechanics, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Borås, Sweden, michele.godio@ri.se
Mathias Flansbjer, Senior Researcher, Applied Mechanics, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Borås, Sweden, mathias.flansbjer@ri.se
Magnus Byggnevi, Specialist, Swedish Fortifications Agency, Eskilstuna, Sweden, magnus.byggnevi@fortifikationsverket.se
Johan Magnusson, Specialist, Swedish Fortifications Agency, Eskilstuna, Sweden, johan.magnusson@fortifikationsverket.se
ABSTRACT
Masonry buildings have existed in Sweden since the Middle Ages. The use of brick masonry as a construction material was pivotal until the beginning of the 20th century. Unreinforced masonry
walls (URM) are massive and act as a protective system, yet they have limited capacity against explosions. When exposed to blasts, they experience out-of-plane failure, which engenders flying
debris inside the building and may affect the stability of the building. Knowledge pertaining to the design and strengthening of URM walls against blasts has been identified as insufficient, on a Swedish context, to answer the current threats. In this paper, the results from quasi-static out-ofplane tests performed on URM walls made of clay bricks and lime-based mortar are presented. The tests were performed at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden by applying an incremental outof- plane displacement, while applying an axial load at the wall’s top edge. RC slabs were affixed over and below the walls to simulate the contact condition of a typical system. Two different types of support were tested for the upper slab: a) where the slab could slide along the vertical direction,
and b) where this was prevented, leading to an arching action inside the wall. The results were generated as a part of an initial experimental stage of a project investigating URM walls loaded laterally by static and blast loads with optical measurements. Ultimately, the results will be used to verify existing models and/or develop a new model for the load-deformation relationship.
KEYWORDS: masonry, out-of-plane action, testing, blast, optical measurements
