FLEXURAL BEHAVIOR OF CONFINED MASONRY WALLS USING INTERLOCKING CONCRETE BLOCKS SUBJECTED TO OUT-OF-PLANE LOADS

Abstract

This paper presents a design procedure to determine the out-of-plane strength of confined masonry walls with different hooks' heights of concrete blocks. For this purpose, an experimental test of three full-scale confined masonry walls using interlocking concrete blocks was conducted. The wall specimen was installed horizontally and supported by four wall sides using the supporting steel frame, and the load was applied at the wall center perpendicular to the plane. The parametric studies on the material properties, hook performance on the wall, flexural behavior, and typical wall damage were conducted. Based on the experimental results, it was observed that the walls that were confined by reinforced concrete tie-beams and tie-columns provided sufficient contribution to the walls' strength. Likewise, a wall with interlocking concrete block material plastered on both sides produced adequate ductility to withstand the out-of-plane loads. The ultimate applied load is reached, resulting in the maximum vertical deflection, which correlates the displacement ductility. A comprehensive discussion of the observed flexural behavior of confined walls, including failure of the wall panel and local failure of concrete confining elements, is explored intensively in this paper.