Application of RCW Base Dissipator on a Set of Masonry Buildings

An application of the RCW -Reinforced Cut Wall- on a set of four masonry buildings for council housing estate with a total of 43 lofts is presented. The performances of this low-cost base energy dissipation technique has been evaluated with some experimental on-site tests performed on a couple of specimen (40x60x30 cm) subjected to a series of cyclic quasi-static time histories with increasing intensity. Trials show the high properties of self-centering and of wide hysteretic behavior of the RCW. Numerical analyses confirm the mechanical properties and provide parameters to the evaluation of cyclic dissipation properties.