CE2601

Lecture 2

Structural Design
(Year 2013-14)
Dr. Xiangming (Michael) Zhou

Design of Masonry Walls under

Axial Loading (EC 6)

School of Engineering & Design

Brunel University

Subjects Covered by Eurocode 6

Chapter 1: General
Chapter 2: Basis of Design
Chapter 3: Materials
Chapter 4: Durability
Chapter 5: Structural analysis
Chapter 6: Ultimate limit state
Chapter 7: Serviceability limit state
Chapter 8: Detailing
Chapter 9: Execution

Environmental Conditions
Environmental conditions
Local (micro) conditions
MX1 in a dry environment
MX2 Exposed to moisture or wetting
MX3 Exposed to moisture or wetting plus
freeze/thaw cycling
MX4 Exposed to saturated salt air or seawater
MX5 In an aggressive chemical environment
(particularly where sulfates occur)

Environmental Conditions
Environmental conditions
Climatic (macro) conditions

Rainwater and snow

Combination of wind and rain
Temperature variation
Relative humidity variation

Local (micro) conditions

Masonry Units
- Clay masonry units (BS EN 771-1)
- Calcium silicate masonry units (BS EN 771-2)
- Aggregate concrete masonry units (BS EN 771-3)
- Autoclaved aerated concrete masonry units (BS
EN 771-4)
- Manufactured stone masonry units (BS EN 771-5)
- Natural stone masonry units (BS EN 771-6)

Group Number
See EN 1996-1-1 Table 3.1 Geometrical requirements

for Grouping of Masonry Units

Groups 1 to 4

Masonry Mortars
Selection on the grounds of strength, durability,
compatibility and economy;
Designed masonry mortars (strength performance
concept) vs. prescribed masonry mortars (recipe
concept)
Factory made masonry mortars vs. site-made masonry
mortars
Most mortars in the UK is prescribed mixes (recipe)
because this is the simplest approach & produces
mortars of known durability.

Compressive Strength of Mortar

fm

Compressive Strength of Mortar fm

Compressive strength of masonry mortars may be

Also see Table 2 of National Annex to EC 6

Design Actions
Fd = FFrep

specified by
Compressive strength expressed as the letter M
followed by the compressive strength in Nmm-2, i.e.,
M4 with designated compressive strength of 4 N/mm2,
or
Mix proportions signifying the cement-lime-sand
proportions by volume, i.e., 1:1:6
The latter should generally by used in practice as it will
produce mortars of known durability

Design Strength fd
Design compressive strength of masonry

fd = fk / m
The characteristic compressive strength of masonry is a

function of the following product / material characteristics

- Group number of masonry unit
- Normalized mean compressive strength, fb, of masonry
unit
- Compressive strength, fm, of the mortar
The partial factor for materials is a function of
- Category of (masonry unit) manufacturing control
- Class of execution control

Characteristic Compressive Strength of

Masonry fk
f k = K f b f m

Normalised Compressive Strength fb

The normalised compressive strength, fb, is the

compressive strength converted into the air dried

compressive strength of an equivalent 100 mm wide * 100
mm high unit of the same material.
fb = conditioning factor * shape factor * declared mean
compressive strength

Normalised Compressive Strength fb

Conditioning factor
Outlined in BS EN 772-1 for masonry units
= 1.0 for air-dried units
= 1.2 for masonry units manufactured to BS as they are

presented by wet strength

Shape factor
See Table A1 of BS EN 772-1
= 0.85 for 102.5 mm 65 mm bricks
= 1.38 for 215 mm (height) 100 mm (width/thickness)

blocks

Category of Unit Manufacturing Control

Class of Execution Control

Category I

Class 2
The work is carried out following the recommendations
for workmanship in EN 1996: Part 2 including
appropriate supervision & inspection
Equivalent to normal category in BS 5628

Units with the manufacturer operates a quality-control

scheme and the probability of the units not reaching

the declared compressive strength is less than 5%

Category II
Except Category I

Manufacturers responsibility to declare the

manufacturing control of units

Class 1
Class 2 in addition: (a) construction is compatible with
the use of the appropriate partial factors given in BS
EN 1996-1-1; (b) the mortar conforms to BS EN 998-2
if it is factory made mortar or if it is site mixed mortar
conforms to BS EN 1015-2, BS EN 1015-11.
Equivalent to special category in BS 5628

Partial Factor for Materials M

Design of unreinforced masonry

walls subjected to vertical loading

Design of unreinforced masonry walls

subjected to vertical loading

Effective height (CL. 5.5.1.2, EC 6)

n =2 for walls restrained at the top and bottom only

Effective height (CL. 5.5.1.2, EC 6)

hef = n h

2=1 for walls with simple resistance at the top and bottom
2=0.75 for walls with enhanced resistance at the top and

bottom
n =3 for walls restrained at the top and bottom and

h the clear storey height of the wall

n reduction factor depending on the edge restraint or

stiffening of the wall. n may be 2, 3, or 4 depending upon the

form of restraint (number of restrained edges)
n =2 for walls restrained at the top and bottom only
N=3 for walls restrained at the top and bottom and stiffened on
one vertical edge with the other vertical edge free

stiffened on one vertical edge with the other vertical edge

free
n =4 for walls restrained at top and bottom and stiffened
on two vertical edges

Requirements for stiffening wall

Design of unreinforced masonry walls subjected

to vertical loading
Effective thickness (CL. 5.5.1.3, EC 6)
The effective thickness tef of a single-leaf wall, a double-leaf
(collar jointed) wall, a faced wall and a shell bedded wall is
equal to the actual thickness of the wall t.
The effective thickness of a wall stiffened by piers is

t ef = t t
tef the effective thickness
t stiffness coefficient
t the thickness of the wall

Slenderness Ratio

Vertical load resistance of solid walls & columns

Design resistance of a single leaf wall per unit length NRd

hef

NRd = t fd

t ef
Should not be greater than 27 when subjected to mainly vertical
loading

m = A1e

u2
2

Alternatively, for E=1000fk

hef
u=

t ef

23 37
Also see Annex G of EC 6

emk
t

capacity reduction factor allowing for the effects of slenderness and

eccentricity of loading, = i or m as appropriate
t the thickness of the wall
fd the design compressive strength of the masonry
Where the cross-sectional area of the wall is less than 0.1 m2, fd should be
multiplied by (0.7+3A), where A is the load-bearing horizontal gross crosssectional area of the wall in m2
For a double-leaf wall, if the leaves are tied together adequately, the wall may be
designed as a single leaf wall (assuming that both leaves are similarly loaded)
or alternatively as a cavity wall.

Mm
wall

is the design bending moment in the middle of the

Nm

is the design vertical load in the middle of the wall

emk
wall

= em + ek, is the eccentricity in the middle of the

ek
is the eccentricity due to creep and is equal to zero
where SR < 27
em = Mm/Nm + ehm einit 0.05t

0.05t

ehe
is the eccentricity at the top or bottom of the wall, if
any, resulting from horizontal loads;
einit
is the accidental eccentricity resulting from
construction inaccuracies and can be taken as hef/450

Example 1: Design of a load-bearing brick wall

The internal load-bearing brick wall shown in the following
figure supports an ultimate axial load of 140 kN/m run
including self-weight of the wall. The wall is 102.5 mm
thick and 4 m long. Assuming that the manufacturing
control of the units is category II and the execution control
is class 2. Design the wall.

Example 2: Design of a brick wall with small

plan area

Example 3: Analysis of brick walls stiffened with

piers

Redesign the wall in Example 1 assuming that it is only 0.9

m long.

A 3.5 m high wall shown in cross-section is constructed from

clay bricks of standard format size having a declared air dried
mean compressive strength of 30 Nmm2 laid in a 1:1:6 mortar.
Calculate the ultimate load bearing capacity of the wall
assuming the partial safety factor for materials is 3.0 and the
resistance to lateral loading is (A) enhanced and (B) simple.