ABSTRACT
This chapter presents experimental results on the performance of typical Australian stack bonded clay brick masonry subjected to one way horizontal bending under lateral out-of-plane pressure loading. Stack bonded masonry is a form of construction in which the masonry units in adjacent courses are aligned vertically above one another. This bonding pattern leads to continuous vertical joints running the full height of the wall resulting in a weak form of construction, particularly under horizontal out-of-plane bending. The chapter describes the results of an experimental program designed to further investigate the behaviour of the stack bonded panels under horizontal bending in which the horizontal mortar joints were reinforced using stainless steel reinforcement. The failure modes for the reinforced panels involved cracking at one or more of the continuous perpend joints, followed by yielding of the reinforcement, usually concentrated at one of the joints.
