Author
D. COOK, S. RING
University of Bath
and W. FICHTNER
Institut fur Tragkonstruktionen, Universtat Karlsruhe

Abstract
The work is about the tolerance of “in-service” brick/masonry buildings to movement, the way they deform in. shear and bending and the way that cracks develop. Incidents of building settlement were studied to define the deformed geometry, and hence the zones of high tensile strain. This in turn provided a simple method for isolating the components of deflection, due to tilt, bending and shear. Masonry structures with multiple openings were seen to deform more in shear than bending, and much of the deformation occurs within the spandrel wall element. An argument is put forward for reinforcing the spandrel wall against bending strains, thus permitting it to deform up to a limiting diagonal tensile shear strain. The criterion of success would be the degree to which the damaged element – after a reinforcement repair – can then tolerate further building movement without re-aggravation of the original wound. The argument appears to be supported by the first stage of a programme of full scale wall tests which indicate a measurably enhanced tolerance to deformation through the insertion of bed joint reinforcement after the element has developed cracks. Reinforcement of the spandrel wall area should offer a practical application in the field of masonry repair in some cases.