FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATION METHOD FOR BRICK MASONRY REINFORCED WITH COMPOSITE MATERIALS

A numerical modeling method for masonry reinforced with composite materials is proposed based on the ABAQUS finite element software. This method combines the idea of the discrete model with the smeared model for unreinforced masonry walls to establish the numerical model for masonry walls strengthened with composite materials. The quasi-static test results of eight brick walls reinforced by steel plates and polymer mortar are employed to verify the feasibility of the proposed numerical model. The comparison between the numerical and test results shows that the failure patterns, hysteresis curves, skeleton curves and stiffness degradation curves are close to the corresponding experimental results. The simulation errors of 81% seismic parameters including the key loads, displacements, ductility factor and energy dissipation index are less than 20%.