Out-of-plane behaviour of confined masonry walls

This paper presents the results of a study on the behaviour of confined masonry walls subjected to out-of-plane uniform pressures. Six full scale confined masonry walls were tested in the laboratory. The variable studied was the wall support conditions; four-sided and three-sided simple supported walls were considered. Simplified analytical models were developed for predicting cracking and maximum pressure for the walls. The former was predicted using the finite element method and the latter using the yield line method, the failure line method, and the compressive strut method. This last method was modified to account for the stiffness of the confining elements and the observed failure mechanism. The observed maximum pressures and failure cracking pattern for the walls with three-side supports were similar to those with four-side supports. This was related to the strength and stiffness provided by the non-supported confining element, which acted as a fourth support. Based on the comparison of experimental and analytical results, it is concluded that both cracking and maximum pressure can be predicted with the analytical models developed in this work.