AS 3700 (2018)

‘MASONRY STRUCTURES’
REINFORCED MASONRY UNDER COMPRESSION

UPDATE
The Concrete Masonry Association of
Australia (CMAA) identified that due to some
impractical reinforcement detailing requirements
the current design method for compression in AS 3700
‘Masonry Structures’ (2011) for reinforced masonry (RM) walls
severely limits their design compressive capacity of RM walls.

SITUATION Recent research funded by the CMAA at the Queensland

University of Technology (QUT) has been accepted by the
BD-004 Standards Australia committee into the AS 3700
(2018) revised design method which:
• Relaxes stringency on the detailing of the vertical steel
• Recognises the true contribution of grout to the walls
compressive strength, and
• Removes the AS 3700 (2011) limitation on the allowable
grout strength (being 1.3 x the masonry units strength)

RESEARCH AIMS The research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the

vertical steel in contributing to the compressive strength of
the wall, despite being laterally unrestrained.

HYPOTHESIS It was hypothesised that the grout should provide some

degree of lateral restraint to prevent the vertical steel from
buckling when compressed.
 PREVIOUS SITUATION
strength contribution steel reinforcing
provided by masonry unit contribution

factor of safety grout contribution

Equation 8.5 (left) was used to calculate

whether the compressive capacity provided
by a RM wall (RH side of equation) is enough
to satisfy the design compressive forces
(Fd ) acting vertically through the walls cross
section.
design compressive compressive capacity
loads

Where:
Φ = Capacity reduction factor = 0.75 (Table 4.1 AS 3700 (2011)
for RM walls)
*See final page for a full list of all notation used

Clause 8.5 (b) required the vertical steel in RM to be laterally

restrained by horizontal ties, in both directions, or else the
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contribution provided by the steel (fsy As) is taken as zero and 1m masonry wall
the wall designed as URM.
This is fine, however this detailing requirement is impractical, time consuming, costly and is rarely adhered
to onsite.
In fact, if you do comply with clause 8.5 (b) you will find it difficult to comply with other areas of AS 3700,
such as ensuring the grout flows into all the voids.

ç
ç
= ç
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1m masonry wall 1m masonry wall

*Please note, this picture is purely a visual representation of a 1m length
of a reinforced concrete masonry wall. The spacing between each vertical The left detail is what ends up
reinforcement is subject to the engineers specifications, and may not necessarily occurring, and is still considered
be placed in each core. Please see table at the back of this spreadsheet for as RM for satisfying wind and
spacing options. earthquake lateral loads, but in
compression, it is considered as
strength contribution URM.
provided by masonry unit
factor of safety grout contribution

The URM equation 7.3.3(2) is at left, where:

Φ = 0.5 (Table 4.1 AS 3700 (2011) for URM walls)
*See final page for a full list of all notation used

compressive capacity
design compressive
loads
When applying each of these equations, there are
significant differences in capacity provided.

EXAMPLE: For a commonly constructed reinforced RESEARCH FINDINGS

concrete block wall on the ground floor of a common
office building, with the wall being 2.7m high, 6m long, • No benefit provided by laterally restraining
190mm thick, 15MPa blocks with 20MPa grout and N16 the steel via ties
bars @ 200 centres: In 2018, the engineer may specify horizontal
reinforcement (nominally N12’s, N16’s, etc…) for
• Equation 8.5 for RM provides a capacity of shrinkage purposes or other actions, however all the
steel associated with laterally restraining the vertical
975 KN/m (allowing approximately 8-9 stories steel (nominally 6mm ties) does not need to be installed
on top)* whereas anymore.
• Equation 7.3.3.2 for URM will provide a capacity of
• The contribution of the grout to the overall
445 KNm (allowing approximately 3-4 stories on
compressive capacity of the wall was
top)*
*These capacities are theoretical in nature. Other structural actions significantly higher than suggested by AS
such as those induced by wind and earthquake forces will still need 3700 (2011)
to be accounted for in the design, and may inhibit or govern the
allowable stories a wall designed to AS 3700 can cater for. • The magnitude of the contribution provided
• Because of the impracticality of clause 8.5(b), by the grout increased with increased grout
designers are forced to use the capacity of strengths
URM walls when designing RM, which presents • The strength of the grout is currently limited
a significant disadvantage to RM’s design to 1.3 x the strength of the masonry unit, yet
compressive capacity compared to other materials, grout strengths of up to 3 times higher than
and thus research by the CMAA was sought. that of the masonry were used in this testing
without any adversity in the results

From this testing and subsequent analysis,

equation 8.5.1 AS 3700 (2018) is:

Where:
kes= (1.0-0.025Sr )(1-2 ) AS 3700 (2018) equation 7.3.3(2) for the
purposes of grouted URM is:
e = effective eccentricity
e < 0.05tw 0

tw = overall thickness of the wall

Φ = 0.75 (for RM walls as per Table 4.1)
αr= reinforcement contribution factor Where:
= 0.4 (for RM walls) Φ = 0.6 (for grouted URM walls as per Table 4.1)
= 1 (for RM piers/columns)
f'cg ≥ 12 MPa
f'cg ≥ 12MPa

Until further testing is pursued, it is recommended that specified grout strengths are not more than 35 MPa greater than the masonry
unit strength. i.e. For 15 MPa units, grout strengths of less than or equal to 50MPa.
These formulas are evidence based, self-consistent and easy to use. Designers can now design RM walls
under compression with ease, rationally allowing for slenderness and eccentricity without the stringent
control on the detailing of reinforcement and the strength of the grout, which unnecessarily work to reduce
the compressive capacity of reinforced concrete block walls.
The AS 3700 (2018) formula is shown to predict higher capacity than what is currently represented in AS
3700 (2011) without any need for lateral reinforcement detailing. The new equation will thus provide more
competitive designs.
In conclusion, the experimental research has uncovered data and knowledge hitherto not well understood
and has provided a strong basis to develop a more rational design formula for reinforced concrete masonry
walls.

NEW GROUT ANNULUS REQUIREMENT

To ensure confinement of the vertical steel, an annulus of grout of thickness not less than twice the diameter of the reinforcing bar should surround
the bar at all times. If this annulus cannot be achieved, then the steel contribution is considered as zero, and the wall designed as if it were
unreinforced.
Verticality of the steel should also be maintained and controlled throughout the construction process. Bar chains, spacers and/or tie wires can assist
in achieving this.

Minimum 2D,
where D is
the diameter
of the steel
reinforcing bar

The below table shows a comparison of compressive capacities between codes. The wall height chosen
was 2.7m and the masonry block strength was 15MPa.
COMPRESSIVE CAPACITY (kN/m)

AS 3700
grout strength (2011) AS 3700 (2018)
Block Steel f’cg <1.3 f’uc
type/ wall thickness configuration
f’cg RM URM RM URM

(Mpa) eccentricity = 0

150 series N12 @ 200 20 570 283 555 369

25 570 283 580 424

32 570 283 693 515

40 570 283 853 642

50 570 283 1115 852

N12 @ 400 20 497 283 486 369

25 497 283 555 424

32 497 283 668 515

40 497 283 828 642

50 497 283 1090 852

N16 @ 200 20 683 283 550 369

25 683 283 619 424

32 683 283 732 515

40 683 283 892 642

50 683 283 1153 852

N16 @ 400 20 554 283 505 369

25 554 283 575 424

32 554 283 688 515

40 554 283 847 642

50 554 283 1109 852

N16 @ 600 20 510 283 491 369

25 510 283 560 424

32 510 283 673 515

 COMPRESSIVE CAPACITY (kN/m)

AS 3700
grout strength (2011) AS 3700 (2018)
Block Steel f’cg <1.3 f’uc
type/ wall thickness configuration
f’cg RM URM RM URM

(Mpa) eccentricity = 0

150 series N16 @ 600 40 510 283 833 642

50 510 283 1094 852

200 series N12 @ 200 20 840 445 795 589

25 840 445 913 683

32 840 445 1106 838

40 840 445 1379 1056

50 840 445 1826 1414

N16 @ 200 20 975 445 841 589

25 975 445 959 683

32 975 445 1152 838

40 975 445 1425 1056

50 975 445 1872 1414

N16 @ 400 20 821 445 788 589

25 821 445 907 683

32 821 445 1100 838

40 821 445 1373 1056

50 821 445 1820 1414

300 series N16 @ 200 20 1501 764 1405 1027

25 1501 764 1624 1203

32 1501 764 1983 1489

40 1501 764 2490 1895

50 1501 764 3319 2559

NOTATION:
Fd = Design compressive force acting on the member’s cross f'cg= Design compressive strength of grout (Cl 3.5)
section
f’cg<1.3f’uc (AS 3700 (2011))
kes = Reduction factor to account for the eccentricity in loading
f’cg≥ 12MPa (AS 3700 (2018))
and slenderness of the member in design of masonry
Ag = Design cross section area of grout (Cl 4.5.7)
Sr = Slenderness ratio (Cl 7.3.4.3)
f'sy= Design yield strength of reinforcement (Cl 3.6.1)
k = Reduction factor for slenderness and eccentricity
As = Total cross sectional area of main reinforcement
f'm= Characteristic compressive strength (Cl 3.3.2)
e = Effective eccentricity (Cl 7.3.4.4)
Ab = Bedded area of a masonry member cross-section (Cl 4.5.4)
αr = Reinforcing contribution factor
kc = Strength factor for grout in compression (Cl 7.3.2)

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This information is intended for use by a structural engineer. While the contents of this information are believed to be accurate and complete, the information given is
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