Masonry walls transmit the gravity load from the slab s above down to the foundation.
Earthquake masonry wall to concrete floor slab.
Nearly all homes with slab foundations that were originally built to code will have anchor bolts or straps.
It is much easier than one might expect.
The addition of concrete block to an existing concrete pad is a situation that will most commonly come up during a remodeling project.
Some homes are built directly on concrete slabs.
Masonry walls transfer the loads of the upper slabs to the foundation successfully.
Flexible floor slabs are commonly used to connect different cantilever masonry walls.
The walls must be confined by concrete tie beams and tie columns to ensure.
Unfortunately these foundations are liable to break and collapse during an earthquake.
At the brick wall to floor slab interfaces which will result in cracking of the brick walls at adjacent mortar bed joints.
Roles of floor slabs and masonry walls.
The walls in the confined masonry act as the bracing panels which resist horizontal earthquake forces.
Providing a conventional slip joint metal strips with grease.
They function as diaphragms transmitting lateral wind and seismic loading through the walls to the foundation.
The second floor diaphragm with concrete topping is assumed to act as a rigid diaphragm and distributes the earthquake load to the walls in proportion to their stiffness.
However if the house is not bolted to the slab you have an earthquake weakness.
In effect this cracked mortar bed joint becomes a slip joint with questionable resistance against horizontal earthquake shear forces.
It can be used to resist seismic loads if necessary measures are considered.
They transmit the vertical dead load and live load to the bearing walls.
The walls act as bracing panels which resist horizontal earthquake forces.
These houses do not have crawl spaces and cripple walls.
The engineer should confirm these assumptions by comparing the in plane deflection of the diaphragms to the lateral displacement of the walls.
The best solution is to either replace the masonry altogether especially if it is old and weak or to fill it in with concrete.
And they act to support the walls from out of plane loads.
Masonry foundations are common throughout the united states and around the world.
2002 for calculating earthquake forces b indian concrete code is 456 2000 for design of rc members and c ductile detailing code for rc structures is 13920 1993 for detailing requirements in seismic regions.
For example it is recommended to use flexible floor slabs to joint different cantilever masonry walls rather than employing rigid coupling beams.