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SDC
Confined masonry
Lesson prepared by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for the
trainings
13 August 2006 at the Housing Reconstruction Centres Ballakot and Battagram 1
Confined masonry
SDC
Definition
Confined Masonry is a construction system
where the walls are built first, and the
columns and beams are poured in
afterwards to enclose (confine) the wall.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Concept
The walls are tied down to the foundation.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Difference with RC frames
Confined Masonry Reinforced Concrete Frame
• Walls first • Concrete first
• Concrete later • Walls later
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Confined masonry
SDC
Difference with RC frames
Confined Masonry Reinforced Concrete Frame
Walls ensure rigidity Column – beam connections
ensure rigidity
Straightforward Complicated
transmission of efforts transmission of efforts
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Confined masonry
SDC
Difference with RC frames
Confined Masonry Reinforced Concrete Frame
Walls are anchored to the Walls are usually not
frames through indentation. anchored to the frames and
will fall out.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Difference with RC frames
Confined Masonry Reinforced Concrete Frame
All efforts go through the
beam-column connection.
If they are badly done,
they break.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Summing up
Confined Masonry Reinforced Concrete Frame
It’s the walls that do the work. It’s the columns and beams that
do the work.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Walls
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Confined masonry
SDC
Walls: why do we need them
A building needs walls for
1. Protection against climate, view, intruders, etc.
+
When we talk about load bearing walls, they will
2. Carry the roof and/or upper floor (vertical loads)
+
When we talk about earthquakes, they will also
3. Carry the lateral pushes (horizontal loads)
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Confined masonry
SDC
Load bearing walls
• They can be made out of:
• Bricks + cement or cement/lime mortar
• Stone + reinforced concrete confinements
• Cement blocks
• Most importantly, they must be strong.
• Water the bricks or blocks before use
• Fill all joints (horizontal and vertical with mortar)
• Use the right mixture for the mortar (1 bucket of
cement for 5 buckets of clean and rough sand)
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Confined masonry
SDC
Load bearing walls
or
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Confined masonry
SDC
Earthquake resistance
Horizontal load
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Confined masonry
SDC
Horizontal loads
20.5°
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Confined masonry
SDC
Distribution of walls
The earthquake resistance of a These shear walls must be
house is much better, if least two placed as far away from each
strong walls without openings other as possible.
(called shear walls) are placed in
each direction.
Special case
with walls in
the centre
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Confined masonry
SDC
Distribution of walls
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Confined masonry
SDC
Shear walls
Shear walls cannot have any openings and no slits for
pipes!
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Confined masonry
SDC
Shear walls
Shear walls should not be higher than 8 feet.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Shear walls
The total surface on the ground of
all shear walls (L x B) in the same
direction must be between 1.0%
and 1.4% of the roof surface (with
2 floors, add up each floor),
according to the soil.
Type of soil Description Min. wall
surface on
Example: ground
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Confined masonry
SDC
Shear walls
Example: Total surface of shear walls on the ground =
1.0 to 1.4% of roof surface in this direction.
© Blondet 2005
The same calculation must be repeated for the other
direction.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Construction details
Roof slab
Bond beam
Columns
Walls
Plinth beam
Foundation
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Confined masonry
SDC
Construction details
Step by step 1. Column reinforcements
2. Foundations
3. Plinth beam
4. Walls
5. Doors and windows
6. Bond beam
7. Roof slab
8. Extensions
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Confined masonry
SDC
Column reinforcements
General rules
Bend hooks at
45 degrees
Alternate
position of hooks
3“
1“
Always use steel bars
with ridges (smooth
rebars may only be All rebars must be
used for stirrups) covered by at least
1 inch of concrete
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Confined masonry
SDC Column
reinforcements
Prepare columns
reinforcements:
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Confined masonry
SDC
Foundations
Place column reinforcement on a
2” bed of concrete on the bottom
of the foundation
2”
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Confined masonry
SDC
Foundations
Don’t put big stones near to the Place bigger pipes into the
columns in the foundations. The foundations to prepare future
concrete would not be able to get passages for sewage and water
correctly into the reinforcements. pipes.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Plinth beam
Prepare the reinforcement of the plinth beam
Don’t forget:
stirrup ends bent
at 45 degrees!
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Confined masonry
SDC
Plinth beam
Place plinth beam reinforcement
on foundation using ‘distance 1 ½” 1 ½”
blocks’ or ‘spacers’.
The distance blocks must also be
put on both sides to keep the 1 ½”
distance to the formwork.
Distance blocks 1 ½”
(height 1 ½”)
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Confined masonry
SDC
Plinth beam
Connect beams to columns using
straight rebars and ‘pins’
Overlapping 50 cm
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Confined masonry
SDC
Brick walls
Use only bricks with ‘frogs’ or Water the bricks before use
vertical holes
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Confined masonry
SDC
Brick walls
Use the Flamish rather than the English bond. It has an equal
number of joints in each layer, thus ensures more regular mortar
joints (i.e. all of the same thickness).
6 joints
3 joints
6 joints
3 joints
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Confined masonry
SDC
Brick walls
End walls in zig-zag towards Avoid continuous joints
columns
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Confined masonry
SDC
Brick walls
All joints (horizontal and vertical) Join walls carefully by alternating
must be between 3/8” and ½”. brick connection.
1st layer
2nd layer
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Confined masonry
SDC
Brick walls
Don’t build higher than 4 feet per Protect fresh walls in hot climates
day! against drying out.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Improved wall anchoring
•To improve connection between
columns and walls, use “stitches”
made of rebar anchors (Ø 1/3” or
8mm).
•Place anchors every 1 ½ foot.
•Place the anchor bars in a bed of
concrete the height of a brick layer.
•Anchors must end with a hook.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Improved wall anchoring
• Add horizontal through bands at sill and lintel level, even if you
don’t have a window. These bands will secure the wall against being
knocked out during an earthquake.
Stitches
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Confined masonry
SDC
Installations in walls
•Don’t break the wall to place
electrical or water pipes.
•Try to keep these pipes outside
the wall.
•If they have to be in the wall,
place them while mounting the
wall, by interrupting the wall in
zig-zag and filling in with concrete
like you do with the columns.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Doors and windows
Reinforcement around windows and doors
Add 2 rebars on
both sides of any
window or door
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Confined masonry
SDC
Bond beam
Prepare the reinforcement of the bond beam
Don’t forget:
stirrup ends bent
at 45 degrees!
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Confined masonry
SDC
Bond beam
Connect bond beams to columns with straight rebars and
pins.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Roof slab
For spans up to 11 feet
Ø 3/8” @ 8”
Ø 3/8” @ 8”
2” 6”
Ø ½” @ 10”
Distance
blocks 1 ½”
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Confined masonry
SDC
Roof slab
Example of reinforcement bar distribution for a span of 11 feet.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Roof slab
• A roof pulled over the wall
edge is another good method
(protects the walls against
rain).
• But you still have to place a
bond beam over the walls as
shown on the previous
picture.
• Make sure that the slab
rebars go correctly through
the bond beam.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Roof slab
Water the slab and keep it wet for one week.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Column – roof slab connection
• If you want the column rebars
to stick out of your roof for
future extensions, they must
be:
• Long enough (at least 2
feet).
• Cast in concrete (to
ensure correct
anchoring).
• Otherwise it’s better to bend
them into the bond beam
before casting the slab!
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Confined masonry
SDC
Roof terrace
If you want to make a roof terrace, the
terrace walls must be anchored like all
other walls.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Roof terrace
Avoid putting your terrace wall on a
cantilevered cornice, as it will fall on
your head during an earthquake.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Slope roof
You can use the column reinforcement bars sticking out of the roof
slab to anchor the beams of a slope roof.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Retaining walls
The walls of your house must not be in direct contact with the ground!
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Confined masonry
SDC
Retaining walls
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Confined masonry
SDC
Gaps between buildings
To avoid damage among two
buildings, or an extension to the
original building, a gap of 1/100th
of the height is compulsory.
This gap must be absolutely
empty and clean (no mortar
rests).
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Confined masonry
SDC
Gaps between buildings
Close gaps with bricks placed in They will brake away during an
front of them. earthquake, that’s all.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Find the error
• No distance blocks
or spacers in the
roof slab.
• These rebars
exposed on the
surface will rust
quickly and
become
ineffective.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Find the error
• Stirrups are not
bent at a 45
degree angle.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Find the error
• The overlapping
length is
insufficient
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Confined masonry
SDC
Find the error
• Bond beam must
be cast together
with the roof slab.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Find the error
• Bond beam must
be cast together
with the roof slab.
• Depending on the
direction (i.e. in the
direction of the
shorter span), the
horizontal
reinforcement bars
must end in a
hook.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Find the error
• Slab is cast
against another
house.
• There is no
movement joint to
protect your house
against the
hammering of your
neighbour’s house
during a quake.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Find the error
• These distance blocks or
spacers don’t have a wire to
attach them to the rebars. They
can move while pouring the
concrete.
• You should prepare them as
shown below, each block with a
wire:
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Confined masonry
SDC
Find the error
• Concrete has not been vibrated
correctly to fill every gap.
• You should use a vibrator when
casting concrete, or at least
hammer against formwork to
make sure that the concrete fills
every hole.
• Don’t add more water to the
concrete to make it more fluent.
It will become weaker.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Find the error
• Wall is to high
without
intermediate
seismic band.
• An opportunity
has been missed:
for little more
money a much
stronger wall
could have been
made.
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Confined masonry
SDC
Further reading
• Blondet M. (2005), Construction and Maintenance of Masonry Houses, Pontifica
Universidad Catolica del Peru, Lima,
www.eeri.org/lfe/clearinghouse/kashmir/resources.html
• City (year n/a), Confined Masonry Construction, City University London,
www.staff.city.ac.uk/earthquakes/MasonryBrick/ConfinedBrickMasonryP.htm
• Earthquake Hazard Centre, Newsletter, Victoria University of Wellington, New
Zealand, www.vuw.ac.nz/architecture/research/ehc/
• AIS 2001), Manual de construccion, evaluacion y rehabilitacion sismo
resistente en viviendas e mamposteria, Asociation Colombiana de Ingenieria
Sismica, www.desenredando.org/public/libros/2001/cersrvm/index.html
• NICEE (2004), Guidelines for Earthquake Resistant Non-Engineered
Construction, Chapter IV: Buildings in Fired-Brick and other Masonry Units,
National Information Centre of Earthquake Engineering, IIT Kanput,
www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/iaee_english/Chapter4.pdf
• IITK-BMTPC, Earthquake tips 1-24, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) and
Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC),
www.nicee.org/EQTips/IITK_BMTPC.htm
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