Author
J Kubica
Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

Abstract
Generally, in national masonry standards (including Eurocode 6) different requirements concerning acceptance of the minimum reinforcement in masonry buildings and structures can be found. Usually these regulations are not very precise. In the last draft of EC6 [1] the minimum reinforcement percentage in masonry members, where reinforcement is provided to enhance the strength in the plane of the masonry walls, is 50% less than the figure in former drafts. In that situation, the following question arose: does a significantly reduced level of bed joint reinforcement still have a positive influence on the behaviour and resistance of masonry structures, or should its influence be ignored?
Based on the tests’ results of in-plane loaded masonry wallettes with bed joint reinforcement (with percentage r = 0.05% and 0.1%), the above-mentioned problem is described and discussed.