BEHAVIOUR OF UNREINFORCED LIMESTONE BRICK WALLS WITH OPENINGS UNDER IN-PLANE AXIAL LOADS

Abstract

Summary :

Since the ancient times, Egyptians have used the Limestone Bricks for building most of their structures. This is due to its high strength, durability and availability in the surrounding environment. Nowadays it is widely being used for building small structures (homes and farms) in rural areas especially in the North cost of Egypt, because it is widely available with a relatively low cost and has an adequate Strength for supporting the floors above. People uses unreinforced Limestone masonry walls system to support reinforced concrete slabs; this system is used up to three story buildings but unfortunately with no design calculation. In this experimental investigation different unreinforced limestone walls were tested. Different properties were measured such as the mode of failure, crack pattern initial modulus of elasticity and maximum strength. There are three main variables tested for the walls, location of the opening, size of the opening and using diagonal reinforcement around the opening. It was found that, the walls with window opening had 2.43% higher ultimate strength than the walls with door opening. The walls with middle opening had 13.11% higher ultimate strength than the walls with side opening. The walls with reinforcement around the opening had 10.17% higher ultimate strength than the walls with no reinforcement around the opening.