Page 372 - Design of Reinforced Masonry Structures

WALLS UNDER GRAVITY AND TRANSVERSE LOADS 6.23

FIGURE 6.21 Relative strengths of walls laid in different bond patterns [6.18].

6.4 ANALYSIS OF WALLS UNDER GRAVITY AND
TRANSVERSE LOADS

6.4.1 General Considerations
As pointed out earlier, from a structural design perspective, masonry walls (like all other
wall) may be load-bearing or nonload-bearing. Generally speaking, all walls are subjected
to combined loads—gravity and lateral. Load-bearing walls may be required to carry grav-
ity loads from the roof or the floor, or both in addition to lateral loads. Nonload-bearing
walls must also carry some gravity load (their own dead weight) as well as lateral loads
(wind or seismic). In all cases, provisions must be made for those loads to be eventually
transferred to foundation by providing a continuous load path.
The load path for loads supported by walls depends on their support conditions. Walls
may span vertically between horizontal supports at top and bottom, for example, ground