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 integrates all research tasks in the U.S. masonry research program. The masonry building research program is an interrelated set of specific research tasks performed by many different researchers which must be well coordinated to achieve programs goals. Coordination activities include: scheduling and initiating research tasks, identification and resolution of technical and operational problems, management of adequate and timely flow of information among researchers, scheduling and coordinating research group meetings and U.S.- Japan meetings, interaction with the UJNR Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects, interaction with potential user groups and working with industry, and dissemination of program results. 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.
