CMDC has worked in collaboration with Carlos Cruz-Noguez and Yong Li from The University of Alberta.
Supporting Innovation through Research Partnerships
Work has been conducted on the following projects:
In-Plane Shear Strength of Partially Grouted Walls
Project Summary:
Reinforced masonry (RM) shear walls are often used as the primary load-resisting system against lateral loads in low- and medium-rise masonry structures. RM walls can be fully grouted (FG) or partially grouted (PG) with the latter option being generally more economical, and thus, widely used in the masonry industry.
While expected to remain sufficiently stiff under service loads, a masonry shear wall is also expected to exhibit a ductile response under lateral load at the ultimate state. However, if the behaviour is shear-critical, failure may occur suddenly.
Recent studies have shown that current design provisions do not predict the shear strength of PG shear walls with consistent accuracy over the range of design variables commonly found in practice. Research has shown that in some cases, design provisions may lead to potentially unsafe designs.
Recent NAMC Articles:
Ba Rahim A., Hung J., Pettit C., and Cruz-Noguez C. (2019, June). “Effect of Interior Vertical Reinforcement on the Performance of Partially Grouted Masonry Shear Walls.” In P.B. Dillon & F.S. Fonseca (Eds.), Proceedings of the Thirteenth North American Masonry Conference. Paper presented at the 13th North American Masonry Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah (pp. 1216–1226). Longmont, CO: The Masonry Society.
Hudson K., Pettit C., Ba Rahim A., Hung J., and Cruz-Noguez C. (2019, June). “An Investigation of the Canadian Code-Based Shear Strength Equation of Partially Grouted Masonry Shear Walls.” In P.B. Dillon & F.S. Fonseca (Eds.), Proceedings of the Thirteenth North American Masonry Conference. Paper presented at the 13th North American Masonry Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah (pp. 1252–1260). Longmont, CO: The Masonry Society.
Ba Rahim A., Pettit C., Cruz-Noguez C., and Hung J. (2023, June) “An Analysis Model for Partially Grouted Shear Walls Using Macro-Modelling: Importance of Reporting Joint Shear Strength.” In Proceedings of the Fourteenth North American Masonry Conference. Paper presented at the 14th North American Masonry Conference, Omaha, Nebraska (pp. 164-175). Longmont, CO: The Masonry Society.
Recent Journal Articles:
Cruz-Noguez, Carlos. “Artificial Neural Network to Predict the Shear Strength of Partially Grouted Masonry Walls”. The Masonry Society Journal. (2023, ahead of print)
Select Theses and HQP:
Out-of-Plane Resistance of Slender RM Walls
Project Summary:
Load bearing slender masonry walls (SMWs) are widely used in single-storey construction in Canada (for example in school gymnasiums, warehouses, etc.). However, design limits imposed on these walls (CSA S304-14; TMS 402-13) tend to be stringent, in terms of strength and stability. This puts the masonry industry at a disadvantage as a construction alternative compared to other structural options.
Research and innovation in slender masonry wall design has been scarce since the 1980s, when working stress and prescriptive-based design were common. This has had a negative impact on the use of conventional slender masonry walls, as limit states and objective-based design have since been adopted.
Adding to these challenges, newer building energy code regulations (NRC 2015 and 2017) place further constraints that impact the design, cost, and performance of SMWs.
Recent CMS Articles:
https://canadamasonrydesigncentre.com/download/14th_symposium/039-Alonso.pdf
https://canadamasonrydesigncentre.com/download/14th_symposium/050-Gonzalez.pdf
http://canadamasonrydesigncentre.com/download/13th_symposium/018-Entz-Paper-1.pdf
https://canadamasonrydesigncentre.com/download/14th_symposium/059-Sustersic.pdf
http://canadamasonrydesigncentre.com/download/13th_symposium/111-Hagel-Paper-1.pdf
https://canadamasonrydesigncentre.com/download/14th_symposium/041-Bilotta.pdf
https://canadamasonrydesigncentre.com/download/14th_symposium/034-Metwally.pdf
Recent NAMC Articles:
Guzmán Sánchez O., Cruz-Noguez C., and Li Y. (2019, June). “Reliability-Based Analysis Model of Slender Masonry Walls.” In P.B. Dillon & F.S. Fonseca (Eds.), Proceedings of the Thirteenth North American Masonry Conference. Paper presented at the 13th North American Masonry Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah (pp. 1148–1158). Longmont, CO: The Masonry Society.
Pettit C., Entz J., Guzmán Sánchez O., Cruz-Noguez C., and Banting B. (2019, June). “Tall Masonry Walls with In-Line Cage Reinforcing.” In P.B. Dillon & F.S. Fonseca (Eds.), Proceedings of the Thirteenth North American Masonry Conference. Paper presented at the 13th North American Masonry Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah (pp. 1190–1201). Longmont, CO: The Masonry Society.
Alonso, A., Gonzalez, R., Elsayed, M., Tomlinson, D., and Cruz-Noguez, C. (2023, June). “Out-Of-Plane Behavior of a Slender Masonry Wall with Different Base Stiffnesses.” In Proceedings of the Fourteenth North American Masonry Conference. Paper presented at the 14th North American Masonry Conference, Omaha, Nebraska (pp. 974-983). Longmont, CO: The Masonry Society.
Select Journal Articles:
Sustersic, H., Stubbs, D., Peterson, R., Bennett, R., Pettit, Clayton., Flisak, Bart, Erdogmus, Ece, Thompson, Jason, Banting, Bennett, Cruz-Noguez, Carlos. “Canada/US Out-of-Plane Reinforced Masonry Walls Design Provisions Comparison.” The Masonry Society Journal. (2022, ahead of print)
Tolou Kian, Mohammad Javad, and Cruz-Noguez, Carlos. “Plastic hinge length and inelastic rotational capacity of reinforced concrete shear walls detailed with self-centering reinforcement”. Engineering Structures, 279 (2023): 115518.
Pettit, Clayton, Erum Mohsin, Carlos Cruz-Noguez, and Alaa Elwi. “Experimental testing of slender load-bearing masonry walls with realistic support conditions.” Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering 49, no. 1 (2022): 95-108.
Pettit, Clayton, and Carlos Cruz-Noguez. “Effect of Rotational Base Stiffness on the Behavior of Load-Bearing Masonry Walls.” Journal of Structural Engineering 147, no. 12 (2021): 04021215.
Zeng, Bowen, Yong Li, and Carlos Cruz Noguez. “Modeling and parameter importance investigation for simulating in-plane and out-of-plane behaviors of un-reinforced masonry walls.” Engineering Structures 248 (2021): 113233.
Metwally, Ziead, Bowen Zeng, and Yong Li. “Probabilistic Behavior and Variance-Based Sensitivity Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Masonry Walls Considering Slenderness Effect.” ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering 8, no. 4 (2022): 04022051.
Select Theses and HQP: :
Ziead Metwally: https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/ac44e25a-bf29-40f9-be1c-c8dac12cb890
Rafael Gonzalez: https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/e171eb3a-a23f-45b4-b508-e5f91eaa2321
Joseph Entz: https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/aeb4d2c6-d10d-4fca-aa3d-84d73950b6e2
Clayton Petit: https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/3fe6437c-0221-47be-8e0a-381489b69b9d
Miguelangel Bilotta: https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/d031d10a-90c9-435d-9578-868d2a29254e
R-Value Estimation for Masonry
Project Summary:
New stringent energy codes and guidelines for the construction of energy-efficient buildings compatible with net-zero emissions infrastructure are drawing increasing attention to the insulation and energy-performance of buildings.
Traditional insulated masonry cavity wall systems, designed for compliance with previous energy codes, incorporated modest amounts of insulation, ranging from 25 mm to 50 mm to achieve prescriptive requirements. Contemporary energy codes now require significantly higher insulation R-values and attract increasing attention to the effect of thermal bridging, such as that which occurs in masonry ties, shelf angles, and other elements that penetrate through the insulation.
Detailed analysis of existing insulated masonry cavity wall systems is needed to establish their thermal performance to facilitate design, and new high-performance building envelope systems for masonry structure must be developed.
Recent NAMC Articles:
Pettit C., Salazar J., Cruz-Noguez C., and Hagel M. (2019, June). “Experimental Determination of the Behavior of Lag Screws in Masonry Veneer Shelf Angles.” In P.B. Dillon & F.S. Fonseca (Eds.), Proceedings of the Thirteenth North American Masonry Conference. Paper presented at the 13th North American Masonry Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah (pp. 1757–1768). Longmont, CO: The Masonry Society.
Select Journal Articles:
Ismaiel, Maysoun, Yuxiang Chen, Carlos Cruz-Noguez, and Mark Hagel. “Thermal resistance of masonry walls: a literature review on influence factors, evaluation, and improvement.” Journal of Building Physics 45, no. 4 (2022): 528-567.
Hagel, Mark D., Gary R. Sturgeon, and Carlos Cruz-Noguez. “A service life model of metal ties embedded in the mortar joints of brick veneer walls with applications to reinforced concrete.” Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering 46, no. 11 (2019): 1043-1053.
Ismaiel, Maysoun, Maged Gouda, Yong Li, and Yuxiang Chen. “Airtightness evaluation of Canadian dwellings and influencing factors based on measured data and predictive models.” Indoor and Built Environment (2022): 1420326X221121519.
Ismaiel, Maysoun, Lindsey Westover, and Yuxiang Chen. “An efficient approach for thermal design of masonry walls using design charts and R-value multipliers.” Journal of Building Performance Simulation 15, no. 6 (2022): 788-808.
