Investigating the confinement effects on masonry behavior based on friction interface

Abstract As a material masonry is anisotropic in nature as it is constituted of various components that differ each other in many ways. Though, the ideas of modeling of concrete are also valid for masonry, still there are difficulties in determining the exact behavior of masonry. The micro modeling (simplified) approach has been adopted in this study for modeling masonry samples subjected to various nature of loadings. The brick masonry units were modeled as discrete elements and linked together by interface element. The coulomb friction model was used to describe the interface element as mortar joint. Damage was assumed to be governed by the compressive strength of both the constituents i.e., mortar and brick. The mechanical properties of the masonry samples were determined by means of variety of tests and those properties then served as input parameters in the constitutive model. The results clearly indicate that numerical model predicted the behavior of the experimentally tested samples, in compression as well as tension prims for both unconfined and confined cases. The proposed model is suitable for modeling any type of brick masonry walls.