From the literature survey it is clear that reinforced brickwork pocket type retaining walls are a well established form of construction in the USA, however, only a small number have been built in the UK. This is surprising since coat studies have consistently indicated that pocket type construction la more economical than fair-faced concrete walls. The available and forthcoming design guidance on reinforced brickwork is reviewed. The main aim of this research was to Investigate the structural performance of pocket type walls in relation to the requirement of the Draft Code for Reinforced Masonry. Reported within are the method and results of an experimental research programme. In all six walls and fifteen beams were tested. The parameters examined were brick type, percentage of reinforcement, slenderness and shear span ratio. Flexural failure occurred in all the walls and in the medlum-1ightly reinforced beams whilst only the heavily reinforced beams failed in shear. The experimental results were predicted accurately when analysed using the flexural design equations in the Draft Code. However the Code requirements for shear appear to be unduly conservative. Concurrent with the experimental work a finite element program was developed to analyse pocket type walls. In spite of the many assumptions made in the modelling of material properties there was good agreement between analytical and experimental results. Subsequently a parametric survey was undertaken. The variables selected for examination were slenderness, pocket spacing, panel thickness percentage of reinforcement and arching action in the panels. Both rectangular and flanged sections were investigated. The results indicated that the Draft Code gave good predictions when flexural failure of the stem occurred. But when panel failure developed neither yield line analysis nor arching theory was able to predict collapse. Guidance is given on the sizing of panels. It is concluded that pocket type walls, when designed to the requirements of the Draft Code, perform adequately at serviceability and ultimate design loads for pocket spacings up to 1.0m. Further experimental work is necessary to establish whether the guidance given in the Code is applicable to walls with pocket spacings greater than 1.0m.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:351324 |
| Date | January 1984 |
| Creators | Tellett, John |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/111994/ |
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