Evaluation of code provisions for design of medium rise buildings supporting brick veneer wall systems under the effect of in-plane seismic loads

The paper will present a summary of the effects of the veneer wall systems on the response of the building frames that support them, when loaded in their in-plane direction, during a seismic event. It will be shown that at the extremes of stiffness that bound the response of veneer wall systems, the prescriptive code requirements can significantly over estimate the effect of the wall systems when these are incorporated into highly flexible structural frames and can produce slightly unconservative results when addressing masonry veneer walls in very stiff reinforced concrete shear wall systems.