Thomas FURTMÜLLER
Numerical and experimental investigations on historic brick masonry
concerning its behaviour in case of earthquakes (in German)
This thesis deals with the numerical modeling of historic brick masonry in the framework of
Finite Element (FE-) simulations. Based on experimental investigations on bricks, mortar, and
small scale masonry specimens, adequate material models and parameters for the constituents
are determined. Therefore, a material model for concrete available in the utilized FE program
is choosen. Since for the simulation of larger structures only a smeared modeling of masonry
is reasonable, such a macromodel is implemented in the framework of multi-surface plasticity
theory. The model is able to capture the hardening and softening behaviour as well as the
essential failure modes of masonry, taking into account in-plane behaviour only. Parameters of
the model are derived via homogenization, because corresponding experimental investigations
on the historic masonry considered are difficult to carry out. Two- and threedimensional unit
cells are used for the homogenization, taking into account the actual geometry and material
behaviour of historic brick masonry. Finally, numerical investigations on a historic building
concering its behaviour in case of an earthquake are conducted using the capacity spectrum
method.