Masonry simulations using cohesion parameter as code enrichment for a non-standard limit analysis approach

A significant number of scientific research groups are still nowadays dealing with masonry material as the main focus of study since it provides an open field of research that is far from resolution in a standardized manner. As masonry structures are highly vulnerable to any level of natural hazards, especially seismic activity, both traditional and composite materials have been used as reinforcements in masonry and provide different solutions that meet the key requirements set out by cultural heritage organizations. Extensive effort has gone into developing appropriate techniques of assessment, that usually demand an individualized methodology of analysis that is to be handled through comparative studies that require results validation. A very appealing field of study is the Limit Analysis approach towards masonry structures, as it offers quite accurate and, more importantly, robust results regarding this necessity to resolve the many diversities involved in the masonry numerical representation to achieve the outcomes required for the assessment. The enrichment of a limit analysis homemade code with the inclusion of diffused cohesion and frictional behaviour at the interface level is able to account, in a simplified but very robust manner, the perplexing issues involved with the numerical assessment of reinforced masonry structures. The cohesion incorporation is calibrated for a variety of in-plane applications, accounting for the joints’ indirect tensile strength, that is able to simulate the strengthening measures. Results obtained are validated with literature and included in a comparative study between discrete numerical models that utilize different modelling strategies.