In this paper, a displacement-based seismic design procedure is presented for reinforced masonry shear-wall structures, with the objective of being more consistent, transparent, and practical than current force-based seismic design procedures. The procedure anticipates the formation of a plastic mechanism at specified target displacements, calculates the local deformation demands associated with that mechanism, and ensures that those local deformation demands remain below deformation capacities for flexure-dominated and shear-dominated wall segments. Guidelines to determine the target displacements and effective damping properties for reinforced masonry wall structures are provided. The proposed procedure and guidelines are used in a trial application to design a full-scale, two-story reinforced masonry shear-wall system.

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