Full-Scale Research and Numerical Analysis of Masonry Stiffening Walls

Each residential building is stiffened with walls whose task is to safely transmit horizontal forces to the foundations. Horizontal actions are caused by wind pressure but can also be induced by paraseismic (mining tremors) and seismic actions (earthquakes). Some studies are concerned with seismic testing of masonry buildings, but few studies include monotonic testing of shear walls. Determining the spatial behavior of stiffening walls was made possible by extensive full-scale research on a masonry construction. The building model walls were constructed with autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) masonry units. The torsion effect of the building (rotation of the structure) was caused by varying the stiffness of masonry by making a door opening in one of wall. The digital image correlation (DIC) method captured the crack propagation of masonry, which would be imperceptible macroscopically because the bed joints were made as thin-layer joints. Head joints were made as unfilled in the tongue and groove system. Moreover, advanced numerical analyzes using the finite element method (FEM) enabled the analysis of a masonry building. The calculations included reflecting the global force-displacement behavior of the building as well as the crack pattern representation.