Analysis of Strains in Brick Masonry Prism Using ABAQUS

In this study, the response of brick masonry specimen subjected to vertical load is analytically calculated using existing formulas and numerically investigated using a popular software ABAQUS. The brick masonry specimen is a small part of the old building which was constructed with brick masonry was taken for analytical and numerical investigation purpose. It consists of three layers of brick and two layers of mortar. The height, width and thickness of the specimen is 245 mm, 220 mm, and 100 mm respectively. Macro and micro model of the specimen was developed using ABAQUS software. The material model used is elastic plastic model C3D8R. Vertical load from 0 to 30.0 kN at interval of 3.0 kN was applied on the specimen. It is very difficult to study the behaviour of brick and mortar together and separately of brick masonry considering the effect of continuity of materials at the joints between brick and mortar. To study the behaviour, macro and micro models are developed and tested upto design load. From the macro and micro models, deflections and strains of brick and mortar upto design load were predicted and these values were compared with analytical calculations. It was found from the investigation, that the increase in strains and deflections are almost proportional to the applied loads.