Structural reliability for reinforced concrete block masonry walls in shear force

The present paper developed a probabilistic model to calculate the structural reliability of typical reinforced grouted concrete block masonry walls designed to Chinese standards, loaded with horizontal shear force. The statistical parameters of materials and loads used for the structural reliability analysis were obtained on the basis of test database and statistical results from China. The effect of probability distribution of model error, the compressive strength for grouted concrete block masonry, live load type, load effect ratio, reinforcement ratio of horizontal rebar, wall sectional height, vertical compressive load, and ratio of shear span to depth were considered when calculating the structural reliability of reinforced masonry walls in shear force. The structural reliability for reinforced concrete block masonry walls in shear is sensitive to the probability distribution of model error. Lognormal is the optimal error probability distribution of the reliability model determined by statistics and analysis of the test data. The reliability calculation result shows that the probability distribution form of the model error is the most influential factor for the anti-shearing reliability index of the reinforced block walls. It was found that the existing (design) reliability levels are all larger or close to the target reliability of 3.7 under the Lognormal, Gamma, and Gumbel distribution for typical structures, whereas the safety levels were less than 3.7 using Normal and Weibull distributions.