Shear tests on external clay unit masonry walls

Monolithic external walls are commonly made of thermally insulated clay blocks that do not require any additional external thermal insulation such as an external thermally insulated composite system (ETICS). To reduce thermal bridge losses, the support length (a) of the slab on the wall is shorter than the wall thickness (t): a < t. The influence on the shear capacity of the respective masonry walls has not yet been tested and analysed. The paper presents the results of shear tests on monolithic external walls with a reduced support length under static-cyclic and pseudo-dynamic loading. The test results will be compared with the shear resistance calculated according to DIN EN 1996 with consideration of the German National Annex and the results according to the relevant Technical Approval.