Experimental Testing of Slender Load-Bearing Masonry Walls with Realistic Support Conditions

Slender, load-bearing masonry walls with slenderness ratios (h/t) greater than 30 are required to be designed as pinned-pinned elements as per North American provisions for masonry, CSA S304-14 (2019) and TMS 402-16 (2016). This provision neglects the contribution of the reactive stiffness of the foundation to the strength of the wall and its effect on the redistribution of bending moments along its height. Eight full-scale masonry walls built with different degrees of base stiffness and tested under an eccentric axial load. Results from the tests showed an increased load-bearing capacity and decreased deflections with increased rotational base stiffness. Experimental data was used to determine key design parameters including the effective flexural rigidity and the moment distribution along the height of the walls. Comparing values of effective flexural rigidity determined from experimental results to code provisions, it was found both codes tend to underestimate the effective flexural rigidity of the walls.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author