A Comparative Study regarding Effect of Wall Span on Seismic Performance of Masonry Building

Abstract

Masonry can be defined as a structural assemblage of masonry units (such as stones, bricks and blocks) with a binding material which is mortar. A vertical two-dimensional structure of such an assemblage is known as masonry wall. Walls of a masonry building and the building itself should be stable, strong and durable to withstand a combination of design loads. In India, currently IS-1905 (1998) is the code of practice for “Structural Use of  Un-reinforced Masonry”. Reference Hand book on Masonry Design & Construction is published by Bureau of Indian Standards in the form of SP-20 (S&T, 1991) is referred for the purpose. The IS code for Structural Use of Reinforced Masonry is under preparation.

The present paper is a a step  to  analyze the seismic effect of  wall length on seismic performance ,with other factors being constant. The method for design  is divided  in to several  steps  to provide a solid feeling and confidence that masonry buildings can also be designed as engineered construction. A study was carried out to compare the effect of wall length/span  on seismic performance of masonry subjected to in plane and out of plane earthquake forces. Study can be useful for optimization of the sizes of enclosed   spaces  for effective performance of masonry buildings in earthquake affected areas.