LAUSR

Abstract An experimental research on the resistance of composite masonry walls is presented. The composite specimens considered herein are load-bearing masonry walls comprising two types of masonry units (i.e. regular masonry units with one layer of thermal break elements). The focus regarding the thermal elements has been put on isolation layers made of aerated autoclaved concrete (AAC). The research included extensive laboratory experiments on small and medium scale of homogeneous and composite specimens (stacked blocks and masonry wallets) under uniaxial compression load with and without eccentricity. The experimental results show that the interaction between masonry and thermal elements has a positive influence on the local bearing resistance of the thermal break layer because of the stiffening brought by the upper masonry layers. Based on this observation, interaction factors are proposed. In addition, results indicate that the global strength reduction due to eccentricity showed to be slightly more severe for composite walls in comparison with the homogeneous specimens.