CE 587

Masonry Design

Sahan Bandara
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Peradeniya
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Recap

• Normalized compressive strength of masonry units (𝒇𝒃 )

• Compressive strength of mortar (𝒇𝒎 )
• Characteristic compressive strength of masonry (𝒇𝒌 )
• Partial factor for materials (𝜸𝒎 )
• Design of vertically loaded masonry walls

𝜱𝒊,𝒎 𝒕𝒇𝒌
Load resistance 𝑵𝑹𝒅 = 𝜸𝒎

Effective height (𝒉𝒆𝒇 )

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Effective thickness (𝒕𝒆𝒇 )
• The effective thickness of a single leaf wall is equal to the actual thickness.

• For cavity walls in which the leaves are connected by suitable wall ties it is generally given by;

𝒕𝟏 , 𝒕𝟐 are the actual thicknesses of the leaves or their effective thicknesses when relevant and 𝑡1 is the
thickness of the outer or unloaded leaf and 𝑡2 is the thickness of the inner or loaded leaf

𝒌𝒆𝒇 is the stiffness ratio between two leaves: 𝑬𝟏 /𝑬𝟐

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Effective thickness (𝒕𝒆𝒇 )

• In cavity walls, when the load is carried by one leaf only, the load bearing capacity of the wall is evaluated
treating the effective thickness to be the thickness of that leaf. However, the slenderness of the wall is computed
based on the effective thickness of the cavity wall.

• When the applied load is shared between the two leaves of a cavity wall, the load should be replaced by
statically equivalent axial loads in the two leaves. Each leaf is then designed separately for the calculated axial
load. Again, 𝒕𝒆𝒇 of the cavity wall is considered in the context of wall slenderness

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Effective thickness (𝒕𝒆𝒇 )

The effective thickness of a wall stiffened by piers is given by;

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Slenderness ratio

Wall slenderness ratio is the ratio between the effective height and effective thickness of a wall. It should not
be greater than 27 when subjected to mainly vertical loading.

𝒉𝒆𝒇
𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒐 =
𝒕𝒆𝒇

Figure below shows a typical failure stress curve for a vertically loaded masonry wall with the variation of
slenderness ratio.

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Capacity reduction factor (𝛷)
Wall top/bottom – 𝛷i
The bending moment divided by the axial load provides the eccentricity at any location. 𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡 is added for this
to account for the eccentricity due to construction tolerances. 𝑒ℎ𝑒 is the additional eccentricity if there are
any lateral loads. 𝑒ℎ𝑒 is not applicable for internal load bearing walls.
𝒆𝒊
𝜱𝒊 = 𝟏 − 𝟐
𝒕
where,

𝑀𝑖
𝒆𝒊 = + 𝑒ℎ𝑒 + 𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡 ≥ 0.05𝑡
𝑁𝑖
𝑴𝒊 - design bending moment at the top or bottom of the wall
𝑵𝒊 - design vertical load at the top or bottom of the wall
𝒆𝒉𝒆 - eccentricity resulting from any horizontal loading at the top or bottom of the wall
𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕 - accidental eccentricity resulting from construction inaccuracies, can be taken as ℎ𝑒𝑓 /450
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 Capacity reduction factor (𝛷)
Wall middle – 𝛷m 𝒆𝒎𝒌 - eccentricity in the wall middle = 𝑒𝑚 +𝑒𝑘
−𝒖𝟐
𝜱𝒎 = 𝑨𝟏 𝒆 𝟐 𝒆𝒌 - eccentricity due to creep, equal to zero when slenderness ratio < 27

𝑒𝑚𝑘 𝑀𝑚
𝐴1 = 1 − 2 , 𝒆𝒎 = + 𝑒ℎ𝑚 + 𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡 ≥ 0.05𝑡
𝑡 𝑁𝑚

𝜆 − 0.063 𝑴𝒎 - design bending moment at the middle of the wall

𝑢= 𝑒𝑚𝑘 ,
0.73 − 1.17 𝑡 𝑵𝒎 - design vertical load at the at the middle of the wall
𝒆𝒉𝒎- eccentricity resulting from any horizontal loading at the middle of the
ℎ𝑒𝑓 𝑓𝑘 wall
𝜆=
𝑡𝑒𝑓 𝐸 𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕 - accidental eccentricity resulting from construction inaccuracies, can be
taken as 𝒉𝒆𝒇 /𝟒𝟓𝟎
Special case when 𝐸 = 1000𝑓𝑘

ℎ𝑒𝑓
𝑡𝑒𝑓 − 2
𝑢= 𝑒
23 − 37 𝑚𝑘𝑡 8
Capacity reduction factor (𝛷)
𝛷𝑚 can be directly found from the charts in Annex G of EC 6.

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The design procedure for a vertically loaded wall or a column
• Find the ultimate applied load per meter length of wall

• Determine the effective height

• If the wall is part of a cavity wall or is stiffened by piers, calculate the effective thickness

• If the cross-sectional area of the wall is less than 0.1 m2 , find 𝛷𝐴 = 0.7 + 3𝐴. Otherwise 𝛷𝐴 = 1.0

• Depending on the symmetric/asymmetric arrangement of floors, roofs and loads, determine the moment at
the top, bottom and mid-height of the member.

• Determine the eccentricities and the slenderness reduction factors at the top, bottom and the mid-height. The
eccentricities should be less than 0.45𝑡

• Calculate the masonry design strength 𝑓𝑑

• Calculate the characteristic strength of masonry 𝑓𝑘 by using appropriate partial safety factors

• Choose a type of masonry unit, normalized unit strength 𝑓𝑏 and a grade of mortar to provide at least the
calculated strength 10
Design of vertically loaded masonry walls - example

A 3.5 m high wall shown in cross-section the figure is constructed from clay bricks of standard format size
having a declared air dried mean compressive strength of 30 𝑁/𝑚𝑚2 laid in a 1:1:6 mortar. Calculate the
ultimate load bearing capacity of the wall assuming the partial safety factor for materials is 3.0 and enhanced
resistance to lateral loading.

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Characteristic compressive strength (𝒇𝒌 )

Conditioning factor = 1 since the declared strengths are on air dried units
Shape factor = 0.85 since the bricks are standard format size
Declared mean compressive strength of bricks is 30 𝑁/𝑚𝑚2

The normalised compressive strengths of masonry, 𝑓𝑏 , is given by,

𝒇𝒃 = conditioning factor × shape factor (δ) × declared mean compressive strength
𝑓𝑏 = 1.0 x 0.85 x 30 = 25.5 𝑁/𝑚𝑚2

1:1:6 mix corresponds to a grade M4 mortar. The characteristic compressive strength of masonry, 𝑓𝑘 is given by,

𝒇𝒌 = 𝑲 𝒇𝒃 𝟎.𝟕 𝒇𝒎 𝟎.𝟑 = 0.55 𝑥 25.50.7 𝑥 40.3 = 8.0 𝑁/𝑚𝑚2

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Capacity reduction factor (𝛷)
Slenderness ratio
With ‘enhanced’ resistance the effective height of wall, ℎ𝑒𝑓 , is given by;

𝒉𝒆𝒇 = 𝝆𝒏 𝒉 = 0.75 𝑥 3500 = 2625 𝑚𝑚

Pier spacing 4500

= = 10.2
Pier thickness 440
Pier thickness 440
= = 2.0
Thickness of wall 215

Hence, the stiffness coefficient 𝜌𝑡 = 1.2 from tables. The effective thickness of the wall 𝑡𝑒𝑓 is equal to;

𝑡𝑒𝑓 = 𝜌𝑡 𝑡 = 1.2 𝑥 215 = 258 𝑚𝑚

𝒉𝒆𝒇 2625
𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒐 = = = 10.2 < 27
𝒕𝒆𝒇 258

Therefore, the effects of creep may be ignored. 𝑒𝑘 = 0

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Eccentricity at the top and bottom of the wall, 𝒆𝒊

𝑀𝑖
= 0 since the wall is axially loaded
𝑁𝑖

𝑒ℎ𝑒 = 0 since there are no horizontal loads present

𝒉𝒆𝒇 2625
𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕 = = = 5.83 𝑚𝑚
𝟒𝟓𝟎 450
𝑴𝒊
𝒆𝒊 = + 𝒆𝒉𝒆 + 𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕 ≥ 0.05𝑡 = 0.05 𝑥 215 = 10.75 𝑚𝑚
𝑵𝒊
𝑒𝑖 = 0 + 0 + 5.83
𝒆𝒊 0.05𝑡
Hence 𝑒𝑖 = 0.05𝑡 and 𝜱𝒊 = 𝟏 − 𝟐 =1−2 = 0.9
𝒕 𝑡

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Eccentricity at the middle of the wall, 𝒆𝒎𝒌

𝑀𝑖
=0
𝑁𝑖
𝑒ℎ𝑚 = 0, since there are no horizontal loads present

𝒉𝒆𝒇 2625
𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕 = = = 5.83 𝑚𝑚
𝟒𝟓𝟎 450
𝑴𝒎
𝒆𝒎 = + 𝒆𝒉𝒎 + 𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕 ≥ 0.05𝑡 = 0.05 𝑥 215 = 10.75 𝑚𝑚
𝑵𝒎

𝑒𝑚 = 0 + 0 + 5.83

𝒆𝒎𝒌 = 𝒆𝒎 +𝒆𝒌 = 0.05𝑡 + 0 = 0.05𝑡

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Eccentricity at the middle of the wall, 𝒆𝒎𝒌

Modulus of elasticity of masonry, 𝐸 = 1000𝑓𝑐𝑘

𝒉𝒆𝒇
𝒕𝒆𝒇 − 𝟐 10.2 − 2
𝒖= 𝒆𝒎𝒌 = = 0.388
𝟐𝟑 − 𝟑𝟕 𝒕 0.05𝑡
23 − 37 𝑡

𝒆𝒎𝒌 0.05𝑡
𝑨𝟏 = 𝟏 − 𝟐 = 1−2 = 0.9
𝒕 𝑡

−𝒖𝟐 −0.3882
𝜱𝒎 = 𝑨𝟏 𝒆 𝟐 = 0.9 𝑥 𝑒 2 = 0.83

Design resistance of wall (𝑵𝑹𝒅 )

𝛷𝑖,𝑚 𝑡𝑓𝑘 0.83 𝑥 215 𝑥 8 𝑁 𝑘𝑁

𝑁𝑅𝑑 = = = 476 run of wall = 476 run of wall
𝛾𝑚 3 𝑚𝑚 𝑚
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Summary

• Effective height (𝒉𝒆𝒇 )

• Effective thickness (𝒕𝒆𝒇 )

• Capacity reduction factor (𝛷)

Wall top/bottom – 𝛷i
Wall middle – 𝛷m
𝜱𝒊,𝒎 𝒕𝒇𝒌
• Design resistance of vertically loaded wall 𝑵𝑹𝒅 = 𝜸𝒎

• The design procedure for a vertically loaded wall or a column

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