Code ۷۲۹ the First Iranian Guideline for Strength-based Design of Non-Structural Masonry Walls: A Verification Report

In ۲۰۱۷, the first Iranian guideline for strength-based seismic design of non-structural masonry walls, Code ۷۲۹, published by The Plan and Budget Organization of Iran. Code ۷۲۹ uses strength-based procedure and the yield-line theory to design unreinforced and reinforced non-structural masonry walls with or without openings. In this paper, first a brief overview of Code ۷۲۹ is presented and then using a comprehensive experimental database of ۷۲ full-scale masonry walls, accuracy of the code is demonstrated. It is seen that Code ۷۲۹ can estimate out-of-plane capacity of different masonry walls with good accuracy. According to the results, average, median, and median plus one standard deviation of errors of the Code ۷۲۹ in estimating out-of-plane capacity of masonry walls, respectively, are ۲۰%, ۱۸%, and ۳۳.۲% and with a probability of ۸۵% the error would be less than ۳۴%. Considering the complicated two-way orthotropic behaviour of non-structural masonry walls and their highly uncertain properties, such level of error is deemed to be acceptable for practical applications. In addition to experimental results, Finite Element simulations are also carried out in this study to shed more light on out-of-plane behaviour of walls with different opening details.

Keywords:

Nonstructural Elements , Nonstructural Masonry Wall , Out-of-plane Behavior