In‐Plane Resistance of Reinforced Masonry Shear Walls

Abstract

Flexural and shear strengths of reinforced masonry shear walls are examined, based on experimental results obtained from 22 6‐ft by 6‐ft masonry wall specimens. These results are summarized and current design formulas examined. It is found that the simple flexure theory based on the plane‐section assumption can be applied to square wall panels with good accuracy. Moreover, it appears to be consistently conservative. The 1988 Uniform Building Code specifications for the shear strength tend to be very conservative for the square wall panels studied and less conservative for walls with lower aspect ratios. Furthermore, the code specifications tend to overestimate the shear strength contributed by the horizontal reinforcement and neglect the influence of axial stress. Hence, a new shear formula that takes into account the influence of axial stress and flexural reinforcement is proposed. The formula appears to have good correlation with experimental results obtained in this study as well as those of others.