Numerical parametric study of dry-stack masonry walls with varied dimensional and loading configurations

Abstract

In-plane behavior for masonry walls is significantly influenced by the masonry unit size and aspect ratio (height-to-length ratio). The effect of pre-compression load on the behavior of masonry walls also cannot be neglected. Several numerical and experimental research studies have been conducted to investigate behavior of these effects on masonry walls. However, said studies have not been all-inclusive, especially in regard to dry-stack masonry walls. For this study, parametric numerical simulations involving two-dimensional (2D) nonlinear models employing finite element methods (FEM) and micro-modeling approach were used to investigate the nonlinear behavior of dry-stack masonry walls with in-plane behavior under lateral load investigated by means of pushover and cyclic analyses for assorted levels of pre-compression load. Wall size, aspect ratio, and unit dimension parameters were also varied to ascertain relationship between structural behavior characteristics such as stiffness, strength, energy dissipation capacity, and failure mechanism. In general, results showed that stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation capacity decreased with increasing wall aspect ratio. Moreover, and clear relationship patterns were identified. For walls with a length of 1 m, elevating the height from 1.2 m to 2.4 m to 3.6 m leads to approximately 60% to 80% reduction in stiffness, along with approximately 50% to 60% reduction in strength. Additionally, when comparing walls with the same aspect ratio, walls with double and triple the size exhibit about 33% and 39% larger stiffnesses and about 80% and 157% larger strengths, respectively. Said results and details derived may be used in design of masonry walls, and the effects of aspect ratio, wall size, unit size, and pre-compression load under pushover and cyclic loading were considered.