Failure pattern prediction in masonry

The structural assessment of masonry remains an open challenge due to its intrinsic nonhomogenous nonisotropic and nonlinear behavior. Aiming at providing a tool for structural applications, this paper presents the formulation and implementation in a FE code of a simple constitutive model to describe the behavior of masonry walls regarded as elastoplastic homogenized anisotropic plates. The model is based on few geometrical and mechanical parameters that can be easily detected from masonry typology. Nonetheless, it can capture the essential features of the structural behavior of ancient masonry, i.e., the failure in traction and the anisotropic behavior deriving from the joints layout. The model succeed in predicting the failure mechanism and load carrying capacity under different boundary and loading conditions, including soil settlement and seismic loading. Its validation is finally carried out for some selected case studies.