CMDC has worked in collaboration with Dan Palermo and Usman T. Khan from York University.
Supporting Innovation through Research Partnerships
Usman T. Khan
Work has been conducted on the following projects:
Adapting Masonry Standards to Climate Change
Project Summary:
Climate change is bringing with it significant changes to the environmental condition and loads to which masonry structures are subjected. A comprehensive review of CSA masonry standards (CSA S304, CSA A370, CSA A371, CSA A179, CSA A165, and CSA A82) was conducted to identify areas of masonry materials and design that could be affected by climate change.
A review of existing scientific literature was also performed to assess the state of the art and current understanding of the influence of environmental and climatic pressure on masonry buildings, assemblies, and materials.
Recent Technical Publications:
Sparling, A., Palermo, D. and Khan, U.T. (2021). Climate Change Adaptation of Masonry Materials, Design, and Construction. Canadian Standards Association, Toronto, ON.
Slender Reinforced Masonry Walls
Project Summary:
Slender loadbearing walls, such as the exterior walls of warehouses and gymnasiums, can be constructed from reinforced concrete block masonry, however this type of masonry construction has fallen out of favour in recent years. This is due to various pressure including economic pressures and those arising from restrictive design standards that have imposed arbitrary limits to amount of load which these walls are permitted to resist and limit the permitted modes of analysis.
Dr. Palermo’s research project aims to broaden the base of understanding of the behaviour of slender loadbearing walls. He also examines the potential of using near-surface mounted steel reinforcement to increase the stiffness of reinforced masonry walls and thereby improve their performance as slender reinforced masonry walls.
Recent NAMC Articles:
Sparling A., Palermo D., and Hashemian F. (2019, June). “Flexural Testing of a Concrete Masonry Unit Wall with Near-Surface Mounted Steel Reinforcement.” 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. 1542–1553). Longmont, CO: The Masonry Society.
Sparling, A., Palermo, D., and Banting, B. (2023, June). “Slender Reinforced Masonry Walls: Analysis Of Stiffness Response.” In Proceedings of the Fourteenth North American Masonry Conference. Paper presented at the 14th North American Masonry Conference, Omaha, Nebraska (pp. 832-843). Longmont, CO: The Masonry Society.
Select Journal Articles:
Sparling, A., Palermo, D., and Hashemian, F. “Out-of-plane flexural testing and stiffness response of concrete masonry walls with NSM steel reinforcement.” Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering 48, no. 7 (2021): 749-762.
Sparling, A., and Palermo, D. “Response of Full-Scale Slender Masonry Walls with Conventional and NSM Steel Reinforcement Subjected to Axial and Out-of-Plane Loads.” Journal of Structural Engineering 149, no. 1 (2023): 04022208.
