Analytical modeling of masonry load-bearing walls

An analytical technique was developed and encoded for computer application to study the behaviour of concrete masonry load-bearing walls under various loading conditions. Both geometrical and material nonlinearities to account for the moment magnification effect and the degradation of material stiffness are included in the development. Effects of vertical reinforcing steel, masonry tensile cracking, and compressive crushing are included directly in the moment-curvature relationship, which is used in the determination of element stiffnesses at successive load increments. A parametric study was conducted following verification of the analytical model by comparing results with experimental test data. Effective flexural rigidity (EIeff) values at failure were obtained analytically and compared with values suggested in the Canadian masonry code CSA-S304.1-M94. It was concluded that CSA-S304.1-M94 tends to underestimate EIeff values for reinforced walls and thus leads to a conservative design over a range of parameters. Based on approximately 500 computer model tests, a lower bound bilinear limit for the effective rigidity of reinforced masonry walls was established. This limit is believed to provide an accurate and realistic estimate of EIeff.