STUDY OF LOAD BEARING BRICK SHEAR WALLS

Abstract

Buildings are normally designed to withstand vertical loads, which include their own weight and the weight of the contents they are to house. In such cases it is relatively simple to compute stresses at any point and to ensure that these do not exceed the strength of materials used for construction. Generally it is the compressive strength of the material that is involved and because this is fairly high compared with the stresses actually induced, buildings do not fail under normal conditions even though their design may be inadequate or the material and construction sub-standard. But when a building is subjected to an earthquake, the forces acting on it are quite different from those considered during the design under normal conditions. As the ground moves horizontally during an earthquake, lateral or torsional stresses are set up in a complicated way throughout the buildings. Pillars and walls designed to carry vertical loads are now required to take horizontal loads also. Floors and roofs which have been resting on walls may find the walls moving out from under them unless the two have been rigidly tied together.