Techno Press
Techno Press

Structural Engineering and Mechanics
  Volume 62, Number 5, June10 2017 , pages 643-649
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/sem.2017.62.5.643
 


Micro modelling of masonry walls by plane bar elements for detecting elastic behavior
Mahmud Sami Doven and Ugur Kafkas

 
Abstract
    Masonry walls are amongst the oldest building systems. A large portion of the research on these structures focuses on the load-bearing walls. Numerical methods have been generally used in modelling load-bearing walls during recent years. In this context, macro and micro modelling techniques emerge as widely accepted techniques. Micro modelling is used to investigate the local behaviour of load-bearing walls in detail whereas macro modelling is used to investigate the general behaviour of masonry buildings. The main objective of this study is to investigate the elastic behaviour of the load- bearing walls in masonry buildings by using micro modelling technique. In order to do this the brick and mortar units of the masonry walls are modelled by the combination of plane truss elements and plane frame elements with no shear deformations. The model used in this study has fewer unknowns then the models encountered in the references. In this study the vertical frame elements have equivalent elasticity modulus and moment of inertia which are calculated by the developed software. Under in-plane static loads the elastic displacements of the masonry walls, which are encountered in literature, are calculated by the developed software, where brick units are modelled by plane frame elements, horizontal joints are modelled by vertical frame elements and vertical joints are modelled by horizontal plane truss elements. The calculated results are compatible with those given in the references.
 
Key Words
    computational mechanics; finite element method (FEM); historical bridges/buildings; masonry structure; static analysis
 
Address
Department of Civil Engineering, Dumlupinar University, Evliya Çelebi Yerleşkesi, Kutahya, Turkey
 

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