Experimental Investigation of Confined Masonry Walls with Openings

Eight half-scale confined masonry (CM) walls with and without confinement around the openings were tested under cyclic in-plane loads. Initially, four CM walls, one solid and three having different openings without confinement, were tested. Thereafter, wall specimens with confining elements around the openings were tested under similar loading cycles. The experimental study indicated that the presence of tie elements around the openings significantly enhanced the performance parameters of the CM walls in terms of their in-plane capacity, energy dissipation, stiffness, strength degradation, distortion of openings, and displacement profiles. The accuracy of the available equations in predicting the strength reduction due to openings was also evaluated. It was observed that no equation considers the confining effect of tie elements around the openings. Thus, based on the available experimental data set, a novel method is recommended for estimating the contribution of confining elements around the openings in CM walls.