Tissera, Nipun1 and Sparling, Bruce2
1 Masters Student Candidate, Department of Civil & Geological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, tissera.n@usask.ca
2 Professor, Department of Civil & Geological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, bruce.sparling@usask.ca
ABSTRACT
Wind is a primary source of out-of-plane loads for masonry wall structural members. Although wind is a dynamic load condition, the current body of research generally considers the behaviour
of masonry walls under quasi-static load conditions, whilst the dynamic aspect is not explicitly mconsidered. Therefore, this research intends to address this gap in knowledge. The objective of this research was to investigate the behavioural characteristics of reinforced masonry walls subjected to realistic wind load conditions. Specifically, the intention was to examine the differences in strength and ductility of reinforced masonry walls under quasi-static and dynamic load conditions. In addition, differences in the behaviour of walls with different levels of reinforcement were examined under quasi-static and dynamic load conditions. The experimental program consisted of testing twenty large scale wall specimens featuring ideal-pinned support conditions. The specimens comprised four sets of tests that addressed all possible combinations of the two primary test variables: quasi-static vs. dynamic load, and low vs. high reinforcement ratio. The partially grouted wall specimens had nominal dimensions of 3 m high and 1 m wide, and were constructed using standard 200 mm hollow concrete masonry blocks arranged in a running bond pattern. The dynamic load was generated using a 4th order autoregressive function to produce a series of realistic wind load time histories for varying wind intensities. The dynamic loads and the quasi-static loads were applied using a four-point loading setup. Both the strength and deformation characteristics of the wall specimens were analyzed and compared. The results indicate that the dynamically loaded walls resist somewhat higher peak loads and at higher levels of ductility.
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