EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL STUDY OF MASONRY WITH EMPHASIS ON THE ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURAL EFFICIENCY

Resumo

In view of the speed and ease of execution, structures such as structural masonry are widely
adopted in civil construction. Although this construction method is considered simple, for the
elaboration of structural projects with satisfactory levels of security and economy, a comprehensive
analysis of the structural behavior is essential. In this regard, numerical modeling is an efficient
approach. In this work, it is carried out the numerical and experimental analysis of the mechanical
performance of small walls of structural masonry, subjected to axial compression. To study the
transmission mechanisms of the stresses and modes of failure, a linear analysis was performed from a
homogenized model, developed in SAP2000® software. As a secondary aim, the strength of the masonry
is compared to that of Light Steel Frame (LSF) panels constructed and modeled with geometric
characteristics similar to those of the small masonry wall and their structural efficiencies was evaluated
comparatively. From the obtained results, it was verified that the macromodeling is an efficient tool in
the prediction of the strength transmission mechanisms in the masonry. About the investigation of the
structural efficiency of the analyzed construction methods, a ratio of 2:1 was verified between the
specific strength of the LSF and the structural masonry.