Diagonal Shear Test on Indonesian Masonry Walls

Unreinforced or confined masonry is a common traditional method for housing construction, particularly in developing countries, thanks to its easy and low cost construction. However, it is well known that masonry performance against earthquake is poor, due to the low tensile and shear strength. The literatures on the shear properties of typical Indonesian masonry is limited. Therefore in this study, a diagonal shear test on Indonesian masonry wall was performed to investigate the shear strength. Brick units with dimension of 200 × 100 × 50 mm and mortar with cement to sand ratio of 1:4 were used in this study. Such design is common in case of low rise Indonesian masonry housing. In addition, retrofitting method using bamboo is also proposed.