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70 APPLICATION & CONSTRUCTION AAC WORLDWIDE %u2022 3.2025APPLICATION & CONSTRUCTIONExperimental investigation into earthquake and strong wind load casesCoupled autoclaved aerated concrete confined walls subjected to lateral loadsResults of a study on the behavior of coupled autoclaved aerated concrete confined walls are presented. A total of four 1:2 reduced-scale walls were tested under lateral loads. One- and two-story high coupled walls were considered. Coupled walls consisted of individual AAC confined walls and reinforced concrete coupling beams. Based on the experimental results, it was observed that the cracking pattern of the oneand two-story coupled walls were similar, respectively. The shear strength of coupled walls increased as the wall length of individual AAC confined walls increased.Jorge Varela-Rivera, Juan Cacep-Rodriguez, Luis Fernandez-Baqueiro and Joel Moreno-Herrera, College of Engineering, Autonomous University of Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, MexicoAutoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) structures are used in many countries around the world. These structures are being constructed in areas of strong hurricanes and severe earthquakes. One of the main lateral load systems for AAC structures under those wind and earthquake actions is coupled walls. This structural system can be constructed using AAC confined masonry walls and reinforced concrete coupling beams. In general, there are few experimental studies on the behavior of AAC confined walls subjected to lateral loads. This shows that more studies are still needed to develop rational design recommendations for structures constructed with that type of walls. For example, in Mexico, there are requirements for the design of confined masonry walls constructed with concrete blocks or clay bricks, but unfortunately, AAC units are not explicitly considered in those requirements. The goal of this paper is to present the main results of a study on the shear behavior of coupled AAC walls subjected to lateral loads as those observed during hurricanes and earthquakes. More details of the behavior of coupled AAC confined walls are presented in Varela et al. (2025).Experimental investigationIn this study 1:2 reduced scale AAC coupled walls were considered. Two one- and two two-story high coupled walls were selected (Fig. 1). In the first case, the coupled walls consisted of two individual AAC confined walls and one reinforced concrete coupling beam. In the second case, the coupled walls consisted of four individual AAC confined walls and two reinforced concrete coupling beams. The thickness of AAC confined walls was 75 mm. Coupling beam dimensions were 150 x 200 x 500 mm (width x height x length). The aspect ratios of individual AAC confined walls were equal to 1.23 and 2.29. The aspect ratio was defined as the ratio between the height of an individual wall and its corresponding length. Onestory coupled AAC walls were defined based on those aspect ratios as CW1%u20131.23 and CW1%u20132.29. Similarly, two-story coupled walls were defined as CW2%u20131.23 and CW2%u20132.29 (Fig. 1).AAC class 4 solid blocks were considered for the walls. Dimensions of reduced-scale blocks were 75 x 100 x 300 mm (width x height x length). Cross section dimensions of vertical confining elements were equal to 75 x 110 mm (width x height). Cross section dimensions of intermediate horizontal confining elements of two-story coupled AAC walls were equal to 75 x 100 mm (width x height).Coupled AAC walls were constructed by an experienced worker. AAC confined walls were constructed in half running bond. The first block course was laid using both mortar in proportions by volume 1:3