LATERAL STRENGTH CHARACTERISTICS OF MASONRY WALL PANELS

Abstract

nasenry, whether brick or stone, has been widely used in both major and minor civil engineering works since quite a long time. But only recently, attempts have boon made to study the structural behaviour of masonry and to boo° its construction on tell established principle of mechanics. Brick masonry has a high comproseive strength while its tensile strength is low. The primary object of this work is to study the structural behaviour of masonry wall panels with or without opening, under combined vertical and lateral load. Effect of size and location of Opening on rigidity and shear strength has been studied by tooting few isolated masonry wall panels. Presence of flange wall makes the shear wall more stiff. The effect of flange wall on the stiffness of shear wall has been studied with the help of testing complete building models subjected to lateral loads.