The Application of Stiffness Corrector in Predicting the Behavior of Vertically Loaded Masonry Wall Panels

This paper presents a new application of stiffness corrector in predicting the behaviour of vertically loaded masonry wall panels more accurately. Corrector factor values are produced from the comparison between the experimental and theoretical displacements at individual points on the wall panel, and model the variation in masonry properties at local regions within the wall panel and the effect of panel boundaries on the regions. For the application of corrector factors from the base wall panel (a full-scale experimental panel) to an unseen panel, the corresponding rule is applied to match similar zones between the base panel and the unseen panel whose configuration is different from the base panel. It verifies that the application of the stiffness corrector factor can make an average 21% improvement in the prediction of the magnitude of displacements of the wall panel using the finite element analysis (FEA) method, when compared with the FEA results without using the corrector. This study further indicates that the experimental information of the full-scale structural model can be fed back the analysis of the new structure by a proper technique and this could open a way for the application of the existing experimental records in structural analysis.