Nonlinear structural analysis of a masonry wall

Structural modelling of a masonry wall is challenging due to variation in material properties, eccentricity of the vertical load, slenderness ratio etc. In recent theoretical developments for design of masonry walls, a new “Phi” method to determine the eccentricity is introduced in Eurocode 6. However, the comparisons between this method and the conventional “Ritter” method in the Danish code shows that, for certain prerequisites, it would result in substantial different load-bearing capacity. Hence, in order to investigate how support conditions and eccentricity influence the load bearing capacity of the wall, this study performs a nonlinear numerical analysis of a wall for several load cases in ABAQUS and the result is verified with an independently developed calculation tool using MATLAB. The results show that the top rotation plays a significant role for the load bearing capacity of the masonry wall supported by slabs at both ends. It is difficult to estimate the eccentricities without a rigorous calculation.