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Verification of a reinforced masonry wall bending under shear and vertical loading
The proposed method of verification is carried under the following assumptions: plane sections remain plane (the wall is not curling under the stress); the steel reinforcement is subject to the same strain than the surrounding masonry. It requires proper choice of steel bars and proper coating of the bars during the execution work to ensure the bond between concrete (or mortar) and steel will not break; the tensile strength of the masonry is ignored. Not only it is far lower than the steels (around 2 MPa against 500 MPa), it also allows taking into account the fact that masonry may crack under seismic strain and have no remaining tensile strength at all; the characteristic compressive strength of the masonry is taken as the lowest compressive strength of masonry unit and concrete infill (usually, the masonry unit will be the limiting factor).

I.

Calculation of the compressed length of the wall

(1) The purpose is to determine the compressed length at the bottom of a reinforced masonry wall when it is subject to shear and vertical loading.

lw
VEd

d
N Ed d t lw

lw 2
Vertical steel reinforcement

zs
lw lc 2

Rsv f d t lc
A

Rsh

Fs

fd

lc
Figure 1 : Wall under shear and vertical loading

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(2) Several forces apply to the wall: is the vertical load at the bottom of the wall (though it is represented at the top of it for the sake of readability, it shall include the load applied by the upper slab and the selfweight of the wall); is the design shear load on wall resulting from the distribution of seismic forces; is the vertical component of the slabs reaction. EN 1996 Part 1.1 allows for a rectangular distribution of stress over the compressed length of the wall as a simplification: it means the stress is taken as uniform over the compressed area whereas in reality it gradually rises as it gets closer to the edge of the wall. The role of the steel reinforcement in the compression column is also not taken into account though it contributes to absorb a portion of the compression load; is the horizontal components of the slabs reaction; is the force exerted by the vertical steel reinforcement, pulling the wall down. (3) Considering the moment resulting from is negligible due to its very short moment arm, the equilibrium of moment at point A gives:

with (4) The above is a regular quadratic equation ( ) which discriminant is:

(5) The roots of this equation are:

(6)

is not a valid solution because it always leads to which is not possible. As a result, the compressed length of the wall is given by the equation:

with

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where:

is the compressed length of the wall in meter (m); is the length of the wall in meter (m); is the design value of the moment applied on the shear wall in Newton.meter (N.m); is the capacity reduction factor for masonry at the bottom of the wall, allowing for the effects of slenderness and eccentricity of loading as defined in EN 1996 part 1.1. As a simplification, it is possible to take 0.6 for side walls and 0.8 for partition walls; is the design compressive strength of masonry in Pascal (Pa). When required it is possible to replace it by which is the design compressive strength of cracked masonry. Unless a more accurate analysis of the cracked elements is performed, EN 1998 part 1.1 allows the following approximation ; is the thickness of the wall in meter (m); is the height of application of the base shear force in meter (m). Beware, it is neither the wall height, nor the storey height; is the design shear load on the wall in Newton (N); is the vertical load at the bottom of the wall in Newton (N).

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II.

Calculation of the tensile strain in the vertical steel reinforcement

(1) EN 1996 Part 1.1 allows for a rectangular distribution of stress over the compressed length of the wall. To account for this simplification, the point of zero strain is placed so as to extend the compressed zone calculated above by 25%. When the wall is not fully under compression, EN 1996 Part 1.1 prescribes the compressive strain be limited by the ultimate compressive strain of the masonry .

VEd

N Ed

Vertical steel reinforcement

1.25lc lc
Tensile strain Compressive strain

mu

Figure 2: Strain distribution over the length of the wall

(2) Using the intercept theorem in the similar triangles drawn by the strain distribution gives:

(3) However .

shall not be greater than the ultimate design tensile strain of steel

(4) As a result, the tensile strain in the vertical steel reinforcement is given by the following equation:

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Where:

is the tensile strain in the vertical steel reinforcement; is the ultimate compressive strain of the masonry and shall not be taken greater than 0.0035 for group 1 masonry unit and 0.002 for masonry unit falling into group 2, 3 or 4 as defined in EN 1996 Part 1.1; is the distance, in meter (m) between the compression extreme fiber and centroid of tension reinforcement (the steel bars, not the concrete) as illustrated below. Its calculation depends on the position of the steel reinforcement in the columns confining the wall;
Case 1: square reinforcing columns

lw
d lw t 2

t
Steel bars
Centroid of tension reinforcement

Compression extreme fiber

Case 2: rectangular reinforcing columns

lw
d lw b 2

t
b
Figure 3: Position of the centroid of vertical steel reinforcement

is the compressed length of the wall in meter (m) determined by the method proposed above; is the characteristic tensile strength of the reinforcing steel in Pascal (Pa); is the design tensile strength of the reinforcing steel in Pascal (Pa) calculated as follow ; is the partial safety factor for the steel. EN 1998 Part 1.1 recommends . However, value of may be taken equal to 1.3 to allow for uncertainties in the positioning, anchoring, and coating of the steel bars during the execution work; is elastic modulus of steel in Pascal (Pa). may be taken equal to 200 GPa = 200 000 000 000 Pa.

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III. Calculation of the required section of vertical steel reinforcement

(1) The equilibrium of forces in the Figure 1 gives the following vectorial equation:

along the vertical axis. (2) The force exerted by the vertical steel reinforcement is the product of its cross-section and its stress therefore . (3) In the elastic range . Using the above, it gives (4) Injecting into the equation determined in (1), we get:

(5) EN 1998 Part 1.1 requires the vertical steel reinforcement in the confining columns be not less than 200mm in case of reinforced masonry (for reference, the limit is 300mm in case of confined masonry). (6) Finally the minimum steel reinforcement required in the vertical confining columns of the reinforced masonry wall is:

where:

is the area of the section of the vertical steel reinforcement in square meter (m); is the capacity reduction factor for masonry at the bottom of the wall, allowing for the effects of slenderness and eccentricity of loading as defined in EN 1996 part 1.1. As a simplification, it is possible to take 0.6 for side walls and 0.8 for partition walls; is the design compressive strength of masonry in Pascal (Pa). When required it is possible to replace it by which is the design compressive strength of cracked masonry. Unless a more accurate analysis of the cracked elements is performed, EN 1998 part 1.1 allows the following approximation ; is the thickness of the wall in meter (m); is the compressed length of the wall in meter (m) determined by the method proposed above; is the vertical load at the bottom of the wall in Newton (N); is elastic modulus of steel in Pascal (Pa). may be taken equal to 200 GPa = 200 000 000 000 Pa; is the tensile strain in the vertical steel reinforcement calculated as proposed above.

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(7) The reinforced masonry wall is verified against bending if the design area of the vertical steel reinforcement in the confining columns is greater than calculated above.

Disclaimer: this material is provided AS IS for the purpose of illustrating the physics of seismic actions and the required engineering work. It comes with absolutely no guarantee of accuracy and completeness. My Quake Proof House does not recommend using any of the above methods and equations for actual design verification.

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