Out-of-Plane Response of ECC Strengthened Masonry Wallets with Openings

Abstract

A parametric study of out-of-plane performance of engineered cementitious composite (ECC) strengthened brick masonry wallets with openings through numerical modeling has been performed. The out-of-plane responses of masonry wallets are determined by applying the four-point loading and analyzed with numerical modeling. For validation of numerical modeling, four burnt-clay brick masonry wallets with openings at the center are cast. The parametric study is conducted on ECC strengthened masonry wallets with opening to investigate the effect of several parameters such as percentage of ECC, width to thickness (b/h) ratio and span to depth (L/d) ratio. Furthermore, the study includes varying opening dimensions in terms of square and rectangular openings. The present investigation shows that the utilization of precast ECC sheet enhance the load-carrying capacity and ductility of masonry wallets with openings. Moreover, the design charts have been prepared for ECC strengthened masonry wallets with openings.