Australian reinforced masonry wall design
Australian reinforced masonry wall design
(OP)
I know there are a few Oz folks who monitor this forum, so would value your opinion, or for that manner anyone else who knows. AS3700-1988 had a clause for reinforced walls in compression which allowed the use of .70 as the capacity reduction factor provided the wall reinforcement complied. AS3700-2001 seems to discount any beneficial affect of reinforcement unless the bars are restrained in each direction by ties, and therefore requires using .45 as the capacity reduction factor. Anyone know if that is the intent of AS3700-2001? Was the interpretation of AS3700-1988 wrong? If so, there are a lot of unconservative walls around.






RE: Australian reinforced masonry wall design
The ties mean that it acts more like a concrete column and the individual buckling is restrained.
General view on this is that for 190mm walls or smaller it is extremely difficult (if not impossible) to get two layers of bars and the ties between.
As for previously constructed wall, hey it is not a perfect world. Try working in the US where the masonry code has changed from allowing big bars with low stress to limiting the bar to small sizes (with higher stress). What works with the old code is a violation of the new code and vice versa. We can only move on and design better from now on.
csd
RE: Australian reinforced masonry wall design
Look up under Engineering Codes, Standards & Certifications.
csd
RE: Australian reinforced masonry wall design
RE: Australian reinforced masonry wall design
Table 4.1 really should include this.
Personally I think 0.45 is a bit harsh...
RE: Australian reinforced masonry wall design