The strength of masonry walls when subject to flood loading

Herbert, Daniel Mark, Gardner, Diane Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2864-9122, Harbottle, Michael John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6443-5340 and Hughes, Timothy 2012. The strength of masonry walls when subject to flood loading. Presented at: 15th International Brick & Block Masonry Conference (15th IBMaC), Florianopolis, Brazil, 3-6 June 2012. 15th International Brick & Block Masonry Conference, Florianopolis, Brazil.

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Abstract

Flooding is increasingly becoming an issue for property owners and they are likely to turn to products designed to waterproof the exterior of the building in a bid to protect their homes. However, very limited research has been completed to assess the effect of the increased hydraulic load upon the structure of the building as a result of such products. This work has been almost exclusively theoretical and has suggested sealing brickwork to a height of between 0.6 m and 1 m. This paper details the initial findings of an experimental research programme that has been initiated to examine the effect of out-of-plane hydrostatic loading on masonry walls typical of domestic or commercial premises. Masonry panels of both brick and block units have been constructed at small scale (1/6th) and hydraulic out-of plane loading has been applied incrementally until failure occurred. The study has been completed using a geotechnical centrifuge to correctly model the effect of self-weight. An important consideration in the theoretical work is the contribution to stability arising from the axial inplane loading provided by higher floors/roofs and consideration of this is included in the experimental setup. 3D digital image correlation (DIC) was employed to monitor the wall panel during test and allowed in and out-of-plane deflections to be obtained. A series of uniform lateral loading tests, using an air bag, have previously been conducted and have proven the validity of the experimental procedure. The performance of the wall panels tested in this study are presented and the results are compared to the findings from previous research.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item - unpublished
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Engineering
Subjects:	T Technology > TH Building construction
Related URLs:	Organisation
Last Modified:	21 Jul 2026 14:20
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/38492

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