Experimental Assessment of the System-Level Seismic Performance of an Asymmetrical Reinforced Concrete Block–Wall Building with Boundary Elements

Using boundary elements in reinforced masonry (RM) walls allows closed ties to be used and multiple layers of vertical bars to be accommodated, thus providing a confining reinforcement cage. This enhances the overall performance of the RM wall relative to conventional RM wall with rectangular cross sections, which typically have a single-leg horizontal reinforcement and a single layer of vertical reinforcement. In addition, with the expected …