Shear Capacity for Flange-Web Intersection of Concrete Block Shear Walls

Adequate shear strength between the web(s) and the flange(s) in flanged masonry shear walls is essential for the wall to provide the required stiffness and strength. In this regard, an experimental investigation was conducted to study the behavior of flanged concrete block walls. The study focused on investigating different specimen configurations to study the shear transfer mechanism between wall flanges and webs. Seven preliminary specimens with different configurations and different flange-web connections were tested in order to choose the most appropriate specimen configuration for the main set of 15 specimens. The ultimate capacity, deformation characteristics, and crack propagation were investigated. In addition, proposed analytical models based on shear-friction failure mechanism were compared with the experimental results and showed good agreement.