DEVELOPING A TEST SYSTEM FOR EVALUATING STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCE OF MASONRY WALLS UNDER OUT-OF-PLANE UNIFORM LOADS

Abstract

This paper proposes a new out-of-plane loading system for masonry walls. Uniform distributed loads are applied to masonry walls by a rubber airbag. The test system was developed aiming at obtaining basic mechanical characteristics of simply supported masonry walls in the out-of-plane direction. In this study, two kinds of structural tests were conducted (a) to verify the developed loading system by using an aluminum plate specimen, and (b) to evaluate the out-of-plane performance of a brick wall specimen. Consequently, the test results clarified (a) good agreements between the experimental measurements and theoretical estimations, and (b) vulnerability of the brick wall.