Seismic Behavior of Infill Brick Walls Strengthened with Welded Wire Mesh

The aim of this research is to improve the seismic performance of the existing brick infill walls by fastening welded steel wire mesh on the wall surfaces. The idea is to use ductile and low-cost material for effective confinement. A total of nine, consisting three identical reference and six strengthened, infill brick walls were prepared and tested under reversal cyclic loading. As a result, considerable improvement in overall seismic behavior was observed. In addition to 1.6 from 2.3 times strength increase with respect to the reference, more than 5% lateral drift ratio was achieved without significant loss of load.