Masonry construction comprises a large portion of building construction in the U.S. and the world. Reinforced masonry construction use is increasing in moderate to higher seismic zones because of its apparent features of economy, fire safety, architectural flexibility and ease of construction. The present state of masonry structural analysis and design, and materials and construction technologies does not enable an accurate prediction of building behavior under lateral loads such as seismic loads. In the U.S., masonry buildings are designed and built with methods, codes and standards that rely upon a mixture of working stress methods, empirical rules, and questionable methods for determining allowable stress values. Masonry is also a complex building material because of the large number of design and construction variables which influenoe the final product configuration and its response under seismic loads. In order to describe the seismic response of masonry buildings it is necessary to develop the fundamental knowledge base to determine basic design methodologies consistent with safety and economic requirements. This research project will investigate the dynamic response of a reinforced masonry building system with a known force-deflection hysteresis. It will focus on the interdependence of the softening of reinforced concrete masonry structures and the sequence of destructive earthquake motions. Three identical test structures will be fabricated at one-quarter scale, and subjected to static and dynamic lateral forces. Numerical procedures will be used to help interpret measurements. The results of this research project will be used to assess the use of scale models for predicting the behavior of full scale reinforced masonry structures by making comparisons with previous full scale research results. This will influence the design practice. The principal investigator is highly qualified to conduct the work and the institution provides excellent support facilities. An award is recommended for the first year of this two-year complete research project.
