A total‐strain based orthotropic continuum model for the cyclic nonlinear behavior of unreinforced brick masonry structures

Plane-stress and shell macromodels are often preferred to analyze masonry structures because of their numerical efficiency. However, they misestimate the hysteretic behavior structures. Additionally, due nature smeared cracks, cracks may be diffused. This article proposes a new orthotropic model, which focuses on cyclic, nonlinear brick The model adopts total-strain based rotating crack approach. It describes tensile compressive failure in principal directions, while including indirectly shear through an internal iterative algorithm. Two distinctions made regarding postpeak unloading/reloading orientation at initiation: steep softening branch secant unloading adopted when angle corresponds in-plane flexural failure, bilinear diagonal failure. Bilinear is compression, resulting cyclic resembling shear. constitutive was implemented finite element software validated against experimental results. simulations reproduced well outcomes terms envelope load-displacement curve behavior, simultaneously resulted localized damage, representative patterns.