Combined Shear-Flexural Verification of in Plane Loaded Reinforced and Unreinforced Masonry Walls

Abstract

. The safety verification of in-plane loaded masonry panels requires the evaluation of at least three different collapse conditions connected with overturning, shear sliding, and shear – compression failure at the panels’ toe. In reinforced panels , the resisting models should even take into consideration the presence of localized or distributed reinforcement. In general, the masonry is considered a Mohr-Coulomb type material not resisting tension and plastic in compression, while reinforcement is a brittle elastic material resisting tensile forces only [1]. The ultimate limit state is however linked with a given subset of compressed material inside the panel area. The compressed sections are therefore varying inside the panel as a function of the applied load. The collapse occurs in shear or overturning when one peculiar compressed section reduces to its minimum [2].