Displacement based design framework for confined masonry system using strut and tie model

Abstract

The confined masonry construction has become increasingly popular in earthquake prone areas due to its satisfactory performance in withstanding the past seismic events and low construction cost. Computation and design member force resultants involves numerical modelling. Since FEM is computationally expensive, simplified approach like Wide Column Model (WCM) is widely accepted in routine seismic design. However it has its own limitations such as, inability to capture the stress concentration around the joints and openings. In such cases Strut and Tie Method (STM) serves as a viable alternative. A case study is presented identifying the lacunas of the current STM when applied to confined masonry system. One of the challenge is the inherent indeterminacy. An approximate approach is proposed to resolve the issue. Further Performance Based Earthquake Engineering has been accepted all over the world. However little has been reported to date in context with the design of confined masonry system. A design framework is proposed in this thesis, with numerical modelling for performance assessment. Example problem is included and compared with the experimental results reported in literature. Overall, the proposed framework shows a great promise of developing performance based design of confined masonry system.