CRITICAL AXIAL LOADS FOR TRANSVERSELY LOADED MASONRY WALLS

E. Schultz¹ and N. J. Ojard² and H. K. Stolarski³

1. Arturo E. Schultz, Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, schul088@tc.umn.edu
2. Nels J. Ojard, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, ojar0006@tc.umn.edu
3. Henryk K. Stolarski, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, stola001@tc.umn.edu

Abstract

The buckling behavior of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls subjected to out-of-plane lateral loads is described including numerical solutions for critical axial load capacity. The influence of bending on buckling strength is illustrated, and the strongly nonlinear interaction between critical load and out-of-plane bending is discussed. An experimental investigation and preliminary results on the stability of slender masonry walls are outlined, including combined lateral load-axial compression tests of URM specimens.

Key words: buckling, design formulas, load tests, out-of-plane bending, post-tensioned masonry, stability, transverse Loads, unreinforced masonry.

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