Redistribution of internal forces in masonry walls: A study through full-scale experiments and numerical simulations

Stiffness is the key factor influencing force distribution within the structure. As lateral loads increase in buildings, cracking occurs, changing the values of internal forces. This phenomenon, known as the redistribution of internal forces, can be considered in calculations up to 15 % according to Eurocode 6, provided that the structure includes rigid floors capable of distributing the load to the stiffening elements. Nevertheless, the extent of the redistribution in masonry structures remains unrecognised in real-scale cases. This paper reports full-scale tests of three masonry buildings subjected to lateral loading with precompression. The process of crack propagation in masonry was captured using digital image correlation method. Nonlinear numerical analysis was also performed on a selected building with a door opening, which enabled changes in internal forces within the shear walls to be determined. This paper presents research on the lateral force redistribution phenomenon on stiffening walls and proposes a new analytical method for calculating internal forces based on experimental results. This method also allows for estimating the wall stiffness solely based on the known deformations of the building.