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DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE SYSTEMS FOR REINFORCED MASONRY WALLS

Final Report Summary - DISWALL (Developing innovative systems for reinforced masonry walls)

The main target of DISWALL project was the development and rationalisation of systems for load and non-load bearing reinforced masonry walls, in order to obtain quality increase for masonry walls, faster and cheaper construction techniques, crack-free and earthquake resistant construction. Despite reinforced masonry systems show a large variety of benefits, they have not been exploited so much till now in the construction market. The main criticisms that have been raised against these systems regard on one hand the un-easiness of construction and the durability issues, that is problem related to construction, on the other hand issues related to the design methods and to the introduction of more severe code requirements for the constructions.

The main general objectives of the project consist in:
- the development of the materials that constitute the reinforced masonry wall systems: brick and block, ties and fastening, mortar and concrete.
- the development of the construction technology for reinforced masonry walls, for better constructability, durability, maintenance, serviceability behaviour (crack reduction) and structural performance (earthquake resistance) of masonry structures.
- the effective integration of the new materials into the production system and of the developed reinforced masonry systems into the construction sector to increase productivity and to obtain economic constructions that can compete with other structural systems.
- the development of quality assessment procedure for reinforced masonry buildings based on the use of NDT methods.
- the contribution to existing and future structural standards by developing guidelines for the application of the new construction systems and for the correct design procedures for the developed masonry typologies, as information tools for end-users.

The project was structured into nine work packages (WPs), as follows:
WP1: Project management
WP2: Dissemination and exploitation
WP3: Product development
WP4: Construction technology
WP5: Experimental and numerical characterisation
WP6: Design of masonry walls
WP7: Construction and testing of prototypes.

The major achievements of the first period were:
- the data base of experimental results;
- the creation of new types of units, mortar and concrete, reinforcement;
- the list of requirement for further material improvement;
- the creation of different types of new reinforced masonry systems;
- the development of on-purpose procedure for in-plane and out-of-plane testing of masonry;
- the dissemination of the project aims and structure and the first dissemination of some project results. There is also a plan for using and disseminating the knowledge, through the project website: http://diswall.dic.unipd.it.

The major achievements of the second period were:
- the laboratory (in-plane and out-of-plane) testing of the different reinforced masonry systems;
- the non destructive testing, with calibration and definition of proper techniques, of the different reinforced masonry systems;
- the numerical modelling, with definition of proper modelling techniques and execution of parametric analyses, of the different reinforced masonry systems;
- the definition of design rules, their implementation into a software package and guidelines;
- the construction of one real building and other prototypes and / or similar walls and the development of construction guidelines;
- the dissemination of the project results.

The project has been concluded reaching all the planned objectives, producing all the deliverables foreseen in the contract and reaching all the expected milestones, with no deviations from the project work programme.