The Effects of Environmental Parameters on the Shear Strength of Brickwalls

Following the destructive bam earthquake of 2003 , The Iranian Government initiated a vast program of seismic retrofitting for existing buildings throughout the country . As a result of the retrofitting program, an extensive amount of field test data is available on the shear strength of brickwalls of buildings from different parts of the country having different climates. A large portion of the available data is utilised in this paper to determine the effects of environmental condition, Particularly those of humidity and temperature, on the shear strength of brickwalls. The effects of other factors including the age of the building are also inverstigated. Results of the statistical analyses highlight the important effects of the location humidity level . It is recommended that for assessing the vulnerability of buildings, regionalization is considered and an appropriate climate factor is adopted.