Non-Uniform TFA reduced multiscale procedure for shell-3D modeling of periodic masonry structures

This work proposes a reduced-order multiscale model for the analysis of masonry elements subjected to in-plane and out-of-plane loading conditions. The Transformation Field Analysis (TFA) is adopted to link the homogeneous shell model at the macroscale with a three-dimensional (3D) representative unit cell (UC) of the masonry material defined at the microscale, accounting for the regular arrangement of bricks/blocks and mortar joints. The UC is modeled considering linear elastic bricks joined by interfaces subjected to possible damage and frictional plasticity mechanisms. An enhanced TFA procedure is proposed, discretizing the interfaces in subsets, where non-uniform distribution of the inelastic quantities is considered and the plastic-damage evolution problem solved. Numerical simulations are developed to assess the advantages and drawbacks of the non-uniform TFA approach compared to previously proposed piece-wise uniform procedure. The results obtained through the proposed numerical approach are compared with both micromechanical and experimental outcomes.