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 influence 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 is to develop analytical models for the behavior of reinforced masonry under seismic loads. The results of the research is to be coordinated with two other approaches to modeling namely, finite element models and lumped parameter models. This research concentrates on structural component models using a force-displacement model approach. Other researchers' experimental data will be used to validate the model. This project is part of the U.S.-Japan Coordinated Program for Masonry Building Research and the Technical Coordinating Committee for Masonry Research (TCCMAR) Program.
