Non-lineer modeling of masonry walls and foundations

The aim of this study is to accomplish 3-dimensional structural analyses of masonry walls and their foundations considering the soil-superstructure interaction. For this purpose, various historic buildings foundation walls and organizations on the soil under the foundations were examined and after the assessment of the design parameters for the ground and building materials, several finite element analyses were successively conducted.However, numerical models and analysis in literature are based on too many assumptions due to the difficulty in obtaining data for geometric dimensions of structural elements, uncertainty in the inner core of the thick cross sectioned building elements that are invisible from the outside, difficulties in determining the properties of building materials due to the unknown construction period and sequence of construction process and use of different materials even within the same cross-section, deficiencies in the determination of mechanical properties of the construction materials, the variety of construction techniques and the use of natural materials, difficulties in assessment of the stability and resistance caused by the current damage in the structure, the use of modern building materials and complexity of modern structural analysis. Despite all these negative issues, there is a large number of 3-dimensional (3D) or planar models, mostly on linear elastic analysis, of masonry building and elements in the literature. However, the validity of the results of these analyses is open to debate in terms of parameters that advanced material models require.In the scope of this work, the parameters of Drucker-Prager failure criterion were calibrated and new relations are recommended for the macro-modeling approach of the wall behavior. Comprehensive constitutive models based on the modified and stress dependent forms of the same parameters were also proposed making the parameters related with the hydrostatic pressure values. Using the proposed approach, fifty-one (51) walls from six different studies were analyzed in detail and their test behavior was successfully estimated. Non-linear stability problems based on material behavior were also investigated through macro-modeling approach. In the second step, the geometry and material information of the foundation soil of masonry structures are discussed. As a result of this information, previously resolved cases of walls with different supports were investigated taking into account the foundation-wall interaction.