Reinforced masonry homogenization by the finite-volume direct averaging micromechanics—FVDAM

Abstract

The theory of finite-volume direct averaging micromechanics (FVDAM) has recently been used to analyze composite materials to obtain their effective properties. This technique has been continuously improved and applied to different problems and is promising in the heterogeneous materials research area with excellent results compared to other numerical approaches. As it is a relatively new technique, many applications have not been performed yet. This work applies the FVDAM for the first time to the numerical study of reinforced masonry, which presents complex behavior, often requiring structural reinforcement despite being an old material. Thus, the FVDAM theory is compared with results obtained by mechanics of structure genome (MSG), which has already been applied to the homogenization of unreinforced and FRP-reinforced masonry and by the finite element method (FEM). Lastly, FVDAM is applied to the solution of some examples involving different types of masonry unit cells, including the investigation of the effects of structural reinforcement, volume fraction, unit cell geometry, and the influence of block properties on effective mechanical properties. The results of such examples are compared with numerical methods such as MSG and FEM, demonstrating the good performance of FVDAM against the methods used in the comparison.