Estudio experimental de muros de mampostería confinada de bloques huecos de concreto sujetos a presiones perpendiculares a su plano

This paper presents the experimental results of a study on the behavior of confined masonry walls subjected to monotonic pressures perpendicular to the wall plane. Three four-side simple supported walls were tested in the laboratory under monotonic uniform pressures; wall specimens were constructed using concrete hollow blocks; uniform pressure was applied using an air bag. Wall specimens were selected based on the minimum requirements specified for confined masonry in the Mexico City masonry technical norm. Major events observed during testing are reported; those events include cracking of masonry and concrete confining elements, relative displacement between masonry wall and confining elements, vertical displacements of wall specimens, and failure mechanism. Based on the experimental results it is concluded that the maximum pressure was at least four times the cracking pressure, and that the observed failure type was related to the excessive rotation of the wall segments generated due to the wall cracking pattern.