8 th International Masonry Conference 2010 in Dresden 8 th International Masonry Conference Dresden 2010 1 IN-SITU TESTING OF A RESIDENTIAL UNREINFORCED MASONRY BUILDING LOCATED IN NEW ZEALAND DIZHUR, DMYTRO 1 ; LUMANTARNA, RONALD 2 ; DERAKHSHAN, HOSSEIN 3 ; GRIFFITH, MICHAEL 4 AND INGHAM, JASON 5 ABSTRACT: Most research considering seismic assessment of URM walls has been conducted using laboratory- based studies with well defined but artificial boundary conditions. Thus, in-situ testing is required to provide data with which to validate the accuracy of laboratory-based studies of URM walls. Alterations, major refurbishment and structural seismic strengthening of Avon House, located in Wellington, New Zealand, involved demolition and removal of three large wall sections, allowing an opportunity for a team of researchers from the University of Auckland to conduct in-situ testing on the building. This allowed comparison with companion experiments that had previously been undertaken in a laboratory setting and provided an accurate seismic assessment of the building. This field testing involved the extraction of clay brick and mortar samples, in-situ bed joint shear tests, flexural bond tests, in-situ diagonal tension (shear) tests, and out-of-plane testing of the walls both in the existing condition and after the installation of a near-surface mounted (NSM) carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) retrofit solution. Testing confirmed that the walls in Avon House did not meet current New Zealand seismic performance requirements, and also confirmed that the near-surface mounted FRP solution is an excellent low-invasive option for seismic strengthening of unreinforced masonry buildings. Details of the history of the building, and the methods used to undertake the field testing are reported, and experimental results are presented. Keywords: In-situ testing, field testing, URM seismic retrofit, near surface mounting (NSM), carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) 1 INTRODUCTION Unreinforced masonry (URM) was one of the most common construction material in New Zealand prior to the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake (Dowrick 1998). The popularity of this form of construction has resulted in numerous URM buildings remaining throughout New Zealand, many of which are now considered to have significant national heritage value (Russell 2010). This type of construction often has insufficient strength to resist lateral earthquake forces in high and moderate seismic zones and lacks the ability to dissipate energy. As most research considering seismic assessment of URM walls has been conducted using laboratory-based studies with artificial boundary conditions, in-situ testing is an important opportunity to acquire data to validate the accuracy of laboratory-based studies on URM wall behaviour. In 2009, a testing opportunity emerged to conduct such testing on a single storey residential building located in Wellington, New Zealand, when it was planned for the building to undergo major alteration and seismic strengthening which involved demolition of three interior walls. 1) PhD candidate, University of Auckland, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, ddiz001@aucklanduni.ac.nz 2) PhD candidate, University of Auckland, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, rlum009@aucklanduni.ac.nz 3) PhD candidate, University of Auckland, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, hder004@aucklanduni.ac.nz 4) Associate Professor, University of Adelaide, School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, mcgrif@civeng.adelaide.edu.au 5) Associate Professor, University of Auckland, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, j.ingham@auckland.ac.nz