Experimental in-plane shear strength investigation of reinforced concrete masonry walls

This paper presents test results of ten single-story reinforced concrete masonry shear walls. Test results are summarized and compared with design formulae specified by the New Zealand masonry design standard NZS 4230:1990 and by the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. It was determined that the test walls exhibited shear strength significantly exceeding the NZS 4230:1990 maximum permissible shear stress, confirming that NZS 4230:1990 was overly conservative in accounting for masonry shear strength. It was also confirmed from the test results that masonry shear strength increases with the magnitude of applied axial compressive stress and the amount of shear reinforcement, but that the shear strength decreases inversely in relation to an increase in wall aspect ratio. In addition, it was shown that the postcracking performance of shear dominated walls was substantially improved when uniformly distributing the shear reinforcement up the height of the walls.