FE and DE modelling of out-of-plane two way bending behaviour of unreinforced masonry walls

Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings are spread around the world and represent one of the most earthquake-prone type of construction. Out-of-plane (OOP) collapse of URM buildings due to earthquake loading is typically considered the highest hazard for the population and hence a clear understanding of the walls OOP behaviour in relation to different restraint configurations is needed. Such understanding can be achieved by means of experimental testing or numerical simulations. Different numerical modelling approaches are available to simulate the response of masonry walls, within those the Finite Element Method (FEM) and the Discrete Element Method (DEM) are used and compared herein. The two modelling strategies were calibrated against an experimental campaign of eight full-scale URM walls with different configurations that were subjected to quasi-static face loading imposed by a system of airbags. Non-linear static (pushover) analysis was conducted to simulate the full-scale URM walls and compare the numerical results to the experimentally attained data.