Shear resistance verification of late 19th century masonry according to EC 6 - State of the art / Nachweis der Schubtragfähigkeit von gründerzeitlichem Mauerwerk nach EC 6 - State of the Art

A large part of buildings in Central European cities like Vienna was built in the Gründerzeit period between about 1840 and 1918 [1]. These buildings were constructed according to traditional rules. Current urban development requires historic buildings to be structurally adapted, which requires retroactive analysis of the masonry walls; in Austria according to ÖNORM EN 1998-3 [2] and ÖNORM EN 1996-3 (EC 6) [3]. Here, special focus is on the load transfer of horizontal earthquake loads, i. e. the shear strength of masonry walls.
This paper describes the verification of historic masonry in detail and discusses individual components. Initial shear strength, load-influenced friction and the length of the compressed part of the wall are first determined using results from experimental testing and relevant literature and then compared to the approaches in EC 6. Based on this analysis, recommendations are provided to make theoretical approaches more realistic.