Interpretation of experimental shear tests on clay brick masonry walls and evaluation of q-factors for seismic design

FUORI CATALOGO

The present research report deals with the evaluation of the behaviour factor q to be used in linear elastic analyses for seismic design of unreinforced clay unit masonry buildings starting from the interpretation of the results of recent shear tests on masonry walls carried out in different laboratories throughout Europe. Seventy five masonry specimens are considered and studied in detail. The specimens had been built with different types of clay masonry units, bond characteristics and mortar properties. Cyclic shear tests on the walls had been executed in the experimental campaigns examined in this work, and particular attention is paid to the evaluation of the deformation capacity, of the effective elastic “cracked” stiffness and of the shear strength. A numerical campaign based on static non-linear analyses on different structural configurations of masonry buildings has been carried out and the results are presented and discussed. From these analyses it has been possible to determine the q factor values for the different masonry typologies considered, consistently with the stiffness, strength and ultimate drift capacity obtained from the analysis of the experimental tests.