Tilting table experiments to determine the out-of-plane behavior of masonry structures which side wall hollow is constructed from brick

Recent earthquakes in Turkey revealed that the lateral load capacities of masonry buildings are not adequate. It is stated in the reports and articles written after the earthquakes that if the connections between the restrained walls and the main wall are lost, the load carrying masonry walls may exhibit total collapse. Understanding the out-of-plane behavior phenomenon will enable one to determine a realistic seismic performance of masonry buildings and contribute to reliable strengthening studies. In this thesis, which has been supported by TUBITAK 3501-Career Development Program with a Project ID of 117M316, 7 different masonry structures, each structure having 3 samples ending up with a total of 21 masonry structures, were built using clay bricks on a specially designed tilting table and tested acordingly. Masonry structures either having side walls at both ends or one end, had window and/or door openings at the side walls. Compiling those 7 masonry structures in two groups, none of the structure were built with mortar, i.e., no mortar was used between bricks. The aim of the study was to understand the effect of side wall openings on out-of-plane behavior of the brick masonry walls.