Analyses of internal force and shear span ratio of transverse masonry wall under horizontal action

Internal force and shear span ratio of transverse walls in the brick structure subjected to horizontal action is studied in order to control configuration of bend and shear failure of masonry bearing walls. The modality and characteristic of transverse seismic walls are analyzed firstly together with the calculating model and analysis method and of shear span ratio of plain brick wall, the equivalency method of height of abnormal section is brought forward on the basis of equal shear area and equal flexural module between rectangular section and abnormal section of member. Furthermore, different stiffness and location of coupling wall-beam or wall-slab of brick wall are adopted in the storey range, and internal force or shear span ratio of wall is calculated by means of FEM. The analyses indicate that equivalent shear span ratio of bearing wall in the masonry structure of six storeys is below 0.7; the influence of stiffness of coupling wall-beam on equivalent shear span ratio is prominent; it is very important to control stiffness of coupling wall-beam and shear span ratio for dominating failure configuration of masonry walls.