Shaking Table Study of a Full-Scale Single Storey Confined Brick Masonry Building

In order to evaluate the seismic behavior of confined masonry buildings, based on Iranian seismic code design, a single storey full-scale unreinforced confined brick masonry building has been constructed on the shaking table facility at the Earthquake Engineering Research Center (EERC) of Sharif University of Technology. The 4 by 4 meter model consists of four brick masonry walls confined with reinforced mortar tie-columns and steel bond beams, with a traditional jack-arch roof system. Three of the wall panels contained openings of di erent sizes and geometries. The model was subjected to the scaled earthquake records of Bam, Tabas and El Centro, as well as a harmonic acceleration with gradually increasing amplitude. The test results indicated that, for moderate strength earthquakes, the provisions provided by the Iranian seismic code is appropriate for life safety. Results also verified that proper workmanship of ties plays an important role in the integrity and stability of the unreinforced masonry buildings. Settlement of the masonry walls and subsequent reduction in frictional resistance between wall and roof horizontal steel bond beams were effective on the out-of-plane failure of the walls. Based on experimental observations, some suggestions are made to improve the current seismic code of Iran.