Simulation of the masonry wall (brick wall with mortar) Abaqus

Project Overview

In this Abaqus tutorial, a masonry wall consisting of bricks and mortar is modeled and analyzed under compressive loading and transverse force.

The main objective of this simulation is to investigate the failure behavior of the masonry wall and identify the corresponding failure mode.

Masonry wall modeled using individual bricks and mortar interaction.

Masonry Wall Model

The masonry wall is modeled using the Simplified Micro Approach. In this approach, the bricks are modeled individually, while the mechanical behavior of the mortar is represented through the interaction between adjacent bricks.

The mortar is not modeled as a separate solid part. Instead, its behavior is introduced through an Interaction Property assigned to the corresponding surfaces between the bricks.

Mortar Interaction

To represent the mortar joints, an Interaction Property is defined between the surfaces of adjacent bricks.

The interaction property includes Cohesive Behavior, Damage, and Damage Evolution. These definitions allow the model to represent the mechanical response and degradation of the mortar joints during loading.

Loading Conditions

A compressive load of 0.24 MPa is applied to the masonry wall. In addition, a transverse force of 6600 N is applied to investigate the lateral response of the wall.

The combination of compressive loading and transverse force causes the masonry wall to undergo nonlinear deformation and eventually develop a characteristic failure mode.

Rocking Failure Mode

During the analysis, the masonry wall develops a rocking failure mode under the applied compressive load and transverse force.

The wall undergoes a rotational movement as the loading progresses, producing the characteristic rocking behavior of the masonry wall.

Rocking failure mode developed in the masonry wall.

Comparison with Real Results

The failure mode obtained from the Abaqus simulation is compared with the corresponding real experimental results.

This comparison makes it possible to evaluate the ability of the numerical model to reproduce the observed failure behavior of the masonry wall.

Comparison between the Abaqus results and the real experimental results.

What You Will Learn

• How to model a masonry wall in Abaqus.
• How to model individual bricks.
• How to use the Micro Approach for masonry modeling.
• How to represent mortar through an Interaction Property.
• How to define Cohesive Behavior between bricks.
• How to define Damage for mortar joints.
• How to define Damage Evolution.
• How to apply compressive loading to a masonry wall.
• How to apply a transverse force.
• How to investigate masonry wall failure modes.
• How to obtain the Rocking Failure Mode.
• How to compare Abaqus results with real experimental results.

Key Features

• Masonry wall consisting of bricks and mortar.
• Micro Approach for masonry modeling.
• Individual brick modeling.
• Mortar represented through Interaction Property.
• Cohesive Behavior.
• Damage behavior.
• Damage Evolution.
• Compressive load of 0.24 MPa.
• Transverse force of 6600 N.
• Rocking Failure Mode.
• Comparison between Abaqus and real results.
• CAE file.
• INP file.
• Reference Paper (Article).
• Step-by-step video tutorial.