Shake-Table Tests of a Full-Scale Three-Story Reinforced Masonry Shear Wall Structure

This paper presents the shake-table tests of a full-scale, 3-story, reinforced concrete masonry structure. The structure was a special reinforced masonry shear wall system designed according to current code provisions for an area of high seismicity. It consisted of three lines of walls arranged in an H-shape in plan view, with one lineal and two T-walls aligned in the direction of the table motion and four lineal walls oriented perpendicular to the table motion. The seven walls were separated by door openings and were connected with lintels and precast slabs with cast-in-place concrete topping. The structure was subjected to a series of dynamic tests including nine seismic excitations with intensities exceeding the maximum considered earthquake used in the design. The structure had a capacity that exceeded considerably the design base shear, and it withstood all but the last two excitations with little or no damage. The paper presents the design of the test structure, its dynamic response to the seismic excitations, the evolution of damage, and the major observations and findings from the tests, including the influence of the concrete slabs, lintels, location of lap splices, and walls oriented perpendicular to the direction of the table motion on the structural performance.