Stochastic spatial modelling of material properties and structural strength of unreinforced masonry in two-way bending

• Published in: Structure and infrastructure engineering Vol. 13; no. 6; pp. 683 - 695
• Main Authors: Li, Jie, Masia, Mark J., Stewart, Mark G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 03.06.2017
• Subjects: Bend strength; Bending; Computer simulation; design; Failure; Masonry; Mathematical models; Progressions; spatial variability; Stochastic; structural reliability; two-way bending; Walls
• ISSN: 1573-2479; 1744-8980
• DOI: 10.1080/15732479.2016.1188125

The paper describes the development of a computational method to predict the strength for unreinforced masonry walls subject to two-way out-of-plane bending considering unit-to-unit spatial variability of the material properties of mortar joints and bricks. The study involves conducting a numerical simulation of full-sized walls subject to two-way bending using stochastic analysis in the form of Monte Carlo simulations and comparing the results with experimental work. A 3-D non-linear Finite Element Analysis is used to study how the spatial variability of material properties affect non-load bearing wall failure progression. The numerical results are compared to the experimental results in terms of the wall failure progression and wall capacity. It is shown that the model which considers the spatial variability of brickwork can best capture the failure patterns and predict the cracking and ultimate loads for walls subjected to two-way bending.