In-plane response of slender walls made of calcium silicate brick and element masonry

Due to the increase of induced seismic activities in the Groningen area (north part of the Netherlands), the assessment of low-rise residential buildings with slender façade piers became of relevance. In this framework, the in-plane response of slender walls made of calcium silicate (CS) brick and element masonry is investigated in this paper. In-plane tests on full-scale masonry walls are presented along with a summary of an extensive material testing campaign. Despite the slenderness of the walls, uncommon for earthquake prone regions, the walls show a high ductility and displacement capacity typical of walls failing in rocking. Nevertheless, the finally brittle failure of CS element masonry walls is unfavourable with respect to the more gradual softening failure behaviour of CS brick masonry wall. This brittle failure may be related to the large size of the elements, 40 times bigger than the bricks, which promoted the faster development of splitting cracks in the units.