Disturbed Stress Field Model for Unreinforced Masonry

The traditional ‘smeared crack’ macro-models for the analysis of masonry structures consider masonry as a homogeneous material with the effects of mortar joints included in an average sense. This approach, suitable for the analysis of large structures, implicitly excludes the possibility of representing local elastic and inelastic mechanisms involving mortar joints. In this study, an innovative formulation based on the Disturbed Stress Field Model (DSFM) is proposed for the analysis of unreinforced masonry structures. The advancement introduced by the model lies in the possibility of simulating the global average behavior of the composite material in combination with the local nonlinear shear slip response of both bed and head joints. This paper describes the formulation of the model; as well, it presents results obtained from the simulation of tests performed on shear walls demonstrating the ability of the DSFM to reproduce the structural response of masonry structures