Estudo do Comportamento de Painéis de Alvenaria Submetidos a Carregamento Lateral utilizando Elementos de Pórtico com Seção Transversal Variável

Resumo

The lateral load behavior of masonry panels is one of the main concerns when designing masonry
structures and may depend on several parameters, such as panel aspect ratio, properties of the composite material,
and intensity of the compressive axial load. This behavior may be addressed by means of experimental and
numerical tests, and it is generally represented by plotting the lateral load versus lateral deflection curve. A simple
way for obtaining numerically this curve is to consider the masonry wall as a one-dimensional element and perform
a finite element analysis. Based on some assumptions concerning the normal stress distribution, the panel can be
discretized into frame elements whose geometrical properties are evaluated from the portion of the cross-section
subjected to compression. In the case of employing finite elements of constant cross-sections, good results are
obtained only if the mesh is dense enough as to accurately represent the change in the geometrical properties of
the resisting portion of the panel cross-section. In this work, a finite element with variable cross-section is
employed, so the number of elements required for a reliable solution could be reduced. The proposed model is
tested against some experimental results available in the literature for various dimensions, material properties.