EVALUATING THE CONNECTION AREAS BETWEEN BRICKS WALLS AND CONCRETE COLUMNS IN CONFINED MASONRY BUILDINGS IN IRAQ

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the construction methods of connection area between bricks walls and concrete columns. Damage inspection process was used to discover the damages in selected buildings. According to construction method, four buildings were selected as a case study. According to damage inspection results, the building without tooth edge (building B) and the building with bonding bars (building C) were appeared cracks with different widths and lengths. For building B, the maximum width and length of crack is equal to 3.5mm and 3.25m respectively. For building C, The maximum crack width is equal to 5mm with length 3m. The buildings with tooth edge connection have no cracks in the area between bricks walls and concrete column because of the strong correlation between the concrete of column and the spaces of bricks (tooth edges). The tooth edge method of building construction did not appear cracks. Therefore, this study recommends to use the method of tooth edges in the construction of building in Iraq to prevent the cracks.