Empirical equations for the assessment of the load-bearing capacity of brick masonry walls

• Three empirical equations are proposed to estimate the strength capacity of masonry walls.
• An expression to assess the contribution of masonry tensile strength is also presented.
• The equations take into account the influence of the main parameters involved on the ultimate capacity of masonry walls.
• The performance of equations shows good agreement with a selection of experimental results.

Three alternative equations to predict the carrying capacity of brick masonry walls subjected to concentric and eccentric vertical loading are presented. The proposals introduced, which are based on the reduction factors for slenderness and eccentricity commonly used in structural design of masonry walls, are derived from a large amount of numerical data generated on-purpose by the systematic use of a simplified micro-model. Wall slenderness, masonry stiffness and load eccentricity are all taken into consideration as the input parameters for the methods proposed. The research also includes an expression for the evaluation of the contribution of the tensile strength of the unit-mortar interface on the carrying capacity of the masonry walls.The paper describes the methodology utilized to derive the equations and a discussion of the equations’ limits and applicability. Finally, the performance of the methods proposed is analyzed by comparison with a selection of experimental results and the method provided by Eurocode-6.