Structural behavior of strengthened interlocking load-bearing hollow block wall with opening subjected to axial and seismic loads

This thesis presents the results of an investigation on the strengthening of interlocking load bearing hollow block walls with opening subjected to axial and seismic loads. Wall panels built using PUTRA block building system, developed by the Housing Research Centre, Universiti Putra Malaysia, were used in the study. In this study, 3.0 m × 3.0 m wall panels with four types of openings were analysed with four types of strengthening methods using finite element method. The four types of openings representing openings for a single panel window (0.6 m × 1.2 m),single panel door (0.9 m × 2.0 m), double panel window (1.2 m × 1.2 m) and 1 ½ panel door (1.5 m × 2.0 m) were studied. For axial load study, non-linear analysis method was used to obtain the failure load of each wall. For seismic load study,spectral response analysis was performed based on the seismic intensity to obtain the maximum stress and maximum displacement for the walls with different types of openings and strengthening methods. The research involved the development of a finite element model of PUTRA block wall panels using the LUSAS software and verification of the compressive strength of the finite element analysis results with those experimental results by earlier researchers. The verification included block, prism, 1.2m wall, 3m wall, 3m wall with stiffener and wall with opening. The study focused on the structural behaviour of the strengthened interlocking load bearing hollow block wall with opening when subjected to axial load and seismic loads. For axial load analysis, the structural behaviour was studied in terms of ultimate strength, stress-strain distribution, deflection shape, maximum principal and shear stresses. For seismic load analysis, the structural behaviour was studied in terms of maximum displacement, maximum principal stress, maximum strain,maximum shear stress, stress-strain distribution and displacement shape of the wall. The study showed that the strength of interlocking load bearing hollow block wall is significantly affected by the presence of openings. Based on the axial load analysis results, efficiency of each type of strengthening method was evaluated and the best method based on the height of the building was proposed. With the proposed strengthening methods, for opening type 1 and 2, the wall was able to sustain up to 5 storey loading while for opening type 3 and 4, the wall was able to sustain up to 4 and 2 storey loadings respectively. For seismic load analysis, efficiency of each type of strengthening method was evaluated and the best method depending on the intensity of the seismic load was proposed. With single storey load and the proposed strengthening methods, for all four types of openings, the wall is able to sustain high seismic load (up to 0.4g).

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