Nonlinear modeling of unreinforced masonry wall under in-plane load and investigation of the effect of various parameters

In this article, an unreinforced masonry wall under in-plane load was numerically modeled using the ABAQUS software. In order to model the material of masonry, concrete material in the material library of Abaqus software was used. The concrete damaged plasticity method in the Abaqus software is a model that was meticulously studied in this research. Initially the governing factors influencing the behavior of this model were introduced, and then the cases provided for this purpose were separately investigated. To this end, an unreinforced masonry wall (100 × 990 × 1000 mm) which has been placed under the in-plane load in the lab, and its laboratory results are available was modeled in the Abaqus software and after defining the required specifications, the effect of various parameters such as stress cracking, dilation angle, strain cracking, viscosity, and etc. was investigated. For modeling the wall, macro method, which is one of the modeling methods of masonry materials was used. After calibration of the numerical model with the laboratory results, the effect of all of the available parameters in the concrete damaged plasticity model was investigated, and their effect was shown in the load-displacement diagram as well as the contour stress. A meticulous parametric investigation would give a better understanding of the way of functioning of these parameters in the modeling. In addition, it offers a better understanding for the users to use appropriate parameters in the modeling.