Author

GILLIJNS, J.
Bekaert, Building Products

Abstract

Until recently, seismicity was mainly a concern in countries of Southern Europe with a prevailing tradition of RC structures with masonry infill walls. Eurocode 8 has increased awareness and concern in many other countries of Europe, where seismic effects were disregarded before. The tradition of load-bearing masonry construction in these countries will have to be amended.
Over the last 20 years Bekaert has funded several research programs on the behaviour of reinforced masonry under seismic action. The experimental test campaigns have shown the increase of strength and displacement capacity, as well as energy dissipation, of infill panels and load-bearing walls, reinforced with truss type bed joint reinforcement. The conclusions are valid for clay bricks as well as AAC. Truss type bed joint reinforcement can provide an effective, economical and easy-to-use solution to protect against seismic action, and does not alter traditional construction. This paper presents the results of the different research programs in Europe.

Key words
Seismicity, Eurocode 8, reinforced masonry, bed joint reinforcement, infill walls, load-bearing masonry