Study of the influence of different parameters on the buckling behaviour of masonry walls

A study of the influence and interaction of the main parameters involved on the buckling behaviour of masonry walls subjected to vertical loading is presented. For this purpose, the effects of the variation of the slenderness ratio, the eccentricity of applied load, the stiffness of the wall and the tensile strength of the unit–mortar interface on the load bearing capacity of masonry walls are analyzed by means of a numerical model based on the micro-modelling approach. udy has confirmed the possibility of describing the combined effect of both slenderness and stiffness by means of a single non-dimensional parameter. In addition, the research shows that, in the case of slender walls, the tensile strength of the unit–mortar interface may influence significantly on the maximum load eccentricity that the walls can resist. The paper also includes a comparison of the results obtained in the parametric study carried out with the analytical method provided by EN 1996-1-1:2005.