Abstract:
Unreinforced masonry (URM) construction contributes to a high percentage of New Zealand’s building stock (Russell and Ingham 2010). Whilst the vulnerability of this type of construction when subjected to lateral loads is widely known, many of the existing URM buildings have not yet been seismically strengthened. A New Zealand guideline specifically addressing seismic assessment and improvement techniques for URM buildings is currently under revision, and the research conducted to develop a revised version of the URM material properties section of the guideline is presented here. Individual brick units, irregular mortar samples and masonry prisms were tested and the relationships between different material properties are discussed.
