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AN ORIGINAL DISCRETE MACRO-ELEMENT METHOD FOR THE ANALYSIS OF

HISTORICAL STRUCTURES

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 AN ORIGINAL DISCRETE MACRO-ELEMENT METHOD FOR THE
ANALYSIS OF HISTORICAL STRUCTURES
Salvatore CADDEMI1, Ivo CALIO'2, Francesco CANNIZZARO3, Cesar CHACARA4, Domenico
D'URSO5, Sandro LISENI6, Paulo B. LOURENCO7, Giuseppe OCCHIPINTI8, Bartolomeo PANTO'9,
Davide RAPICAVOLI10

ABSTRACT

A reliable numerical model capable of simulating the nonlinear behaviour of historical masonry structures is
fundamental for their structural assessment and the identification of possible retrofitting strategies. Within the
framework of numerical simulations, models based on the Finite Element (FE) method provide a good prediction
of the seismic performance of this type of structures. However, the application of this computational tool is
mainly oriented to research purposes since it is computationally demanding and needs advanced user expertise to
define appropriate mechanical properties and to interpret the numerical results correctly. In this sense, alternative
practically oriented models have been developed aiming at overcoming these limitations. Despite this, most of
these models focuses on the evaluation of the in-plane response of masonry walls, assuming a box behaviour of
the structure and neglecting the out-of-plane failure mechanisms. This paper presents a simplified Discrete
Macro-Element modelling approach for the simulation of the seismic response of historical masonry structures.
The adopted discrete elements, used at the macro-scale, possess an internal deformability, and their reciprocal
interaction is governed by distributed interfaces which incorporate the mechanical nonlinear behaviour of the
adjacent elements. In this study, this numerical strategy, implemented in a dedicated software environment, is
applied to a real-scale residential building through nonlinear static analyses compared with results available in
the literature. The results obtained from this study are in good agreement with the ones obtained by continuum
FE models, demonstrating the applicability of this strategy for practical purposes with a significant reduction of
the computational cost.

Keywords: Masonry modelling; Nonlinear dynamic analysis; Discrete macro-element; Historical masonry
structures; HiStrA software

1. INTRODUCTION

Numerical modelling of masonry and historical structures is one of the most complex problems of
modern structural engineering; and therefore, it requires special attention. All over the world, the
number of historical constructions, usually URM buildings, is higher than any other structural

1
Full Professor, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Italy,
scaddemi@dica.unict.it
2
Full Professor, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Italy,
icalio@dica.unict.it
3
PhD, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Italy,
francesco.cannizzaro@dica.unict.it
4
PhD Student, ISISE, Department of Civil Engineering, Guimarães, Portugal, c.chacara@pucp.pe
5
PhD Student, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Italy,
durso.domenico@me.com
6
PhD, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Italy, sandronet99@yahoo.it
7
Full Professor, ISISE, Department of Civil Engineering, Guimarães, Portugal, pbl@civil.uminho.pt
8
PhD, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Italy, gocchipi@dica.unict.it
9
PhD, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Italy, bpanto@dica.unict.it
10
PhD, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Italy,
daviderapicavoli@hotmail.it
typology, and the necessity to preserve them has become a more important task with the passing of
time. The seismic response of this type of structures is complex since it involves a high nonlinear
degradation of the material due to the cyclic behaviour, and often, the simultaneous presence of
elements with a curved geometry such as aches, domes or vaults. The nonlinear response of structures,
when subjected to earthquakes, involves in-plane mechanisms only when a box behaviour is assured;
otherwise, a mixed interaction between in-plane and out-of-plane mechanisms is expected, which
constitutes a typical characteristic of historical constructions. An accurate evaluation of the seismic
response of structures is also required for assessing their performance and for a better understanding of
possible retrofitting strategies to preserve them against earthquakes. When a box behaviour is
guaranteed by good connections among orthogonal walls and effective floor connections, many
simplified approaches can be reliably adopted, for example those proposed in Chen et al. (2008),
Casolo and Peña (2007), Magenes and La Fontana (1998), D'Asdia and Viskovic, (1995), Braga et al.
(1998) Brencich et al. (1998) Caliò et al. (2012a). Nevertheless, for historical buildings, for which the
out-of-plane behaviour is crucial to grasp the actual structural response, the nonlinear FE approach is
that commonly adopted but it is computationally expensive and requires specific expertise to set the
analysis options and the mechanical parameters. In the literature, there are numerous examples of FE
models applied to historical masonry buildings such as in Mele et al. (2003), Betti and Vignoli (2008)
that used very sophisticated constitutive laws and required a significantly large computational burden.
The FE approach is very useful for detailed modellings and for calibrating simpler approaches;
however, its application for practical engineering purposes is limited.
The wide variety of simplified approaches for the study of masonry structures with box behaviour is
not replicated for the more complex case of historical constructions in which the out-of-plane
behaviour cannot be considered inhibited. In particular, there is the necessity of powerful tools capable
of considering the main features of historical masonry structures (cyclic material behaviour, curved
geometry, out-of-plane response) based on a simplified approach which allow a physical interpretation
of the results as well as easiness of use. In this regard, this paper employs a discrete element modelling
strategy, initially introduced for masonry structures with a box behavior, Caliò et al. (2005, 2012a),
and successively extended to account for the out-of-plane behavior, Pantò et al. (2017a), and in the
presence of curved geometry, Calió et al. (2010). This discrete element approach is based on an
equivalent mechanical scheme in which each masonry element is modelled by means of an articulated
quadrilateral with four rigid edges and a nonlinear shear link along its diagonal. In order to rule the
interaction of adjacent elements, discrete interfaces are arranged along each edge of the articulated
quadrilateral. Each of these interfaces is characterized by a layer of links that simulate the nonlinear
degrading cyclic behaviour of masonry. This basic element, also extended to model infilled frame
structures in Caliò and Pantò (2014) and Caliò et al (2008), is implemented in a software environment
software called 3DMacro, Caliò et al. (2012b), which allows pre- and post-processing phases. The
upgraded element, able to account for the out-of-plane behaviour, is implemented in a different
software environment called HiStrA (Historical Structures Analysis), Caliò et al. (2015). More
recently, the proposed approach was extended to account for the actual dynamic response in
Chácara et al. (2016) and for the presence of fiber-reinforced materials in Pantò et al. (2017b). Real
scale buildings, such as churches, Pantò et al. (2016), were already investigated employing the
upgraded element.
The out-of-plane behaviour represents a challenging issue in the numerical modelling of masonry
structures. The simplified approaches available in the literature mainly deal with the in-plane
behaviour of masonry walls and, in case of buildings, they can be applied in presence of box
behaviour only. For historical unreinforced masonry buildings the out-of-plane response of masonry
walls may occur before the activation of the in-plane mechanism.
The proposed approach is here applied for the first time to the benchmark case study of a real scale
residential building representative of a wide structural typology popular in Portugal in the beginning of
the 20th century (Gaioleiro buildings). The case study analyzed in the paper is characterized by timber
floors and absence of intermediate orthogonal walls, thus facilitating the occurrence of the out-of-
plane response of the walls. The proposed model, introduced and validated with reference to the out-
of-plane behaviour of single walls in Pantò et al. (2017a), and simple structures in Cannizzaro &
Lourenço (2017) is here applied again to an entire building. The paper is not focused on the validation
of the out-of-plane behaviour of the buildings, but rather on the application of the modelling approach
2
for the seismic assessment of a significant benchmark building for which numerical and experimental
results have been already reported in the literature. Comparisons with the results obtained with a
classic nonlinear FE approach, presented in Mendes and Lourenço (2009), Mendes (2012), are shown.
It is worth to note that it represents the first attempt of simulating the in- and out-of- plane response of
a real building through the application of a simplified macro-element approach characterised by a very
low computational burden. The achievements of this paper represent a first step towards a full
numerical campaign aiming at a complete comparison with the experimental shaking table tests
conducted on a real specimen.

2. PROPOSED MODELLING STRATEGY

The adopted modelling strategy allows studying the non-linear response of masonry buildings using a
discrete element formulation. According to this approach, the structure is divided through a
discretization of macro-elements. Each of these discrete elements corresponds to a hinged
quadrilateral with rigid edges and a diagonal nonlinear link, which can interact with contiguous
elements by means of zero-thickness nonlinear interfaces. In this sense, the global response is obtained
through an assemblage of the discretized elements and interfaces. This basic mechanical scheme can
be employed under the basic assumption of in-plane behaviour only, whereas upgraded versions of
this element are needed for more complicated cases in which the out-of-plane response corresponds to
a more predominant mechanism.
In the basic element proposed in Caliò et al. (2005, 2012a), each panel presented a rectangular
configuration, and the interfaces were composed by a single row of flexural links and a single
longitudinal sliding link (see Figure 1a). Four degrees of freedom describe the kinematics of each
element (three rigid body motion degrees of freedom and an additional one to describe the shear
deformability). According to this approach, the three main in-plane failure mechanisms of a masonry
panel can be simulated, that is the flexural, the shear with diagonal cracking and the shear with sliding
mechanisms. The simulation of these mechanisms requires a proper calibration procedure for the
nonlinear links as reported in the following sections.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1. Mechanical scheme of the adopted macro-element: (a) in-plane, (b) out-of-plane and (c) curved
element

Further upgrades have been carried out to simulate the more complicated cases in which the out-of-
plane response is not inhibited. The first is related to the addition of three degrees of freedom (for a
total amount of seven degrees of freedom) to account for the out-of-plane response of regular masonry
walls. For this purpose, additional rows of flexural links were added to the interfaces together with two
additional sliding links to rule the out-of-plane shear and the torsion, as better described in Pantò et al.
(2017a), as illustrated in Figure 1b. The last upgrade of the discrete element according to this
modelling strategy (see Figure 1c) implies each element to be a generic hinged quadrilateral (not
constrained to a rectangular shape) with interfaces not orthogonal to the plane of the element to
3
adequately follow a possible curved geometry. In addition, the thickness of the element can be defined
at each point as a linear interpolation of four independent thicknesses at the nodes of the element,
Calió et al. (2010).
In Figure 2 a representation of the kinematics is reported with reference to the regular spatial element.
In particular, Figure 2a and 2b reports the degrees of freedom associated to the rigid body motions, to
which the internal degree of freedom associated to diagonal link elongation is superimposed. Figure
2c. By adopting this numerical strategy, the amount of degrees of freedom is optimized and kept as
low as possible; besides, the presence of interfaces does not affect the global amount of degrees of
freedom since their kinematics is linearly dependent on the independent degrees of freedom associated
to the quadrilateral elements.

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 2. Adopted kinematics for the spatial element: (a) translations, (b) rotations and (c) diagonal shear degree
of freedom

The proposed formulation follows a phenomenological description of the mechanical behaviour of a

portion of masonry whose in-plane shear deformation is governed by the diagonal nonlinear link
placed at the quadrilateral. On the other hand, the membrane-flexural response and the shear sliding
behaviour are ruled by the zero-thickness interfaces. Each of these link typologies rules a specific
masonry failure mode; thus, making the calibration procedure easier and allowing to grasp combined
4
failure mechanisms. The characterization of the links at the interfaces is performed following a
straightforward fiber calibration procedure, whereas the shear-diagonal link through a mechanical
equivalence with a reference geometric continuous model. In the following subsection, some brief
details on the calibration procedures are provided with reference to the regular spatial element
proposed in Pantò et al. (2017a), since it is the one employed in the numerical simulations reported in
the hereafter.

2.1 Calibration of nonlinear links orthogonal to interfaces (flexural links)

The characterization of these links is conducted according to a fiber calibration approach. Each
orthogonal link is representative of the portion of the macro-element corresponding to a fiber along its
axis. In this way, it is possible to consider isotropic or orthotropic behaviours of the material since the
links along perpendicular directions can be calibrated independently. With reference to a regular 3D
macro-element, each link is calibrated assuming that the material fiber is homogeneous, and it is
characterized by an elastic-plastic constitutive law, Caliò et al.(2012a). Regarding the post-elastic
properties, it’s possible to consider different laws for the softening branch according to a given
fracture energy (linear or exponential softening for the tensile behaviour and linear or parabolic laws
for the compressive behaviour) as shown in Figure 3. In the most general case, the flexural behaviour
is characterized by two different values of Young's moduli (vertical and horizontal directions), Eh and
Ev, whereas σch, σth and σcv, σtv are the corresponding compressive and tensile yielding strengths, Gch,
Gth and Gcv, Gtv are the fracture energies in compression and tension. The calibration of the stiffness is
obtained by assigning to each link the axial stiffness of the corresponding masonry strip which is
identified by its influence area and half dimension of the panel in the direction perpendicular to the
interface.

Figure 3. Example of the calibration procedure of the flexural links for a rectangular panel

The compressive and tensile yielding forces, fc and ft, and their corresponding ultimate displacements,
uc and ut are computed by means of the equations reported in Table 1. It is worth noting that these
expressions are based on panels with rectangular shape and a linear softening post-elastic behaviour.

5
 Table 1. Mechanical calibration of the orthogonal links for a rectangular panel.

Direction K fc ft uc ut
Horizontal Eh h s fch   chhs fth   thhs Gch Gth
Kh  2 uch  2 uth  2
B  ch  th
Vertical E fcv   cvvs f th   tv v s G Gtv
Kv  2 v v s ucv  2 cv utv  2
B  cv  tv

where B and H are the two dimensions of the panel, λh and λv represent the in-plane spacing between
links along the length of the interface, and λs is the out-of-plane spacing between link along the
thickness of the interface.

2.2 Calibration of nonlinear links along interfaces (sliding links)

The nonlinear links lying along the interface rule the in-plane and out-of-plane shear sliding
behaviour, the out-of-plane shear deformability and the relative torsion between contiguous panels.
The initial mechanical scheme requires a single link along the interface since it is capable of
simulating the in-plane shear sliding mechanism. On the other hand, the upgraded mechanical scheme
(spatial configuration) requires three sliding links in order to simulate all the mechanical aspects
mentioned above.
The in-plane shear sliding link simulates the potential relative slipping at the masonry joints due to a
friction phenomenon; and therefore, it is calibrated according to a rigid plastic constitutive law
associated with a Mohr-Coulomb yielding domain. The yielding strength is associated to the contact
area A of the interface, defined as the surface of the interface related to the orthogonal links in the
linear field, and to the current axial force N acting on the interface.
The other two links aim at governing the out-of-plane shear deformability, the out-of-plane sliding and
the torsion between adjacent elements. These links are also calibrated using a fiber approach according
to the influence volumes of the two adjacent macro-elements connected by the interface. Referring to
two identical elements with thickness s, width B, height H, shear modulus G, cohesion c, and friction
coefficient μs, the calibration procedure for the computation of the elastic stiffness Ks, the current
yielding strength fsy of the link and the mutual distance d, is given by the equations summarized in
Table 2. The mutual distance d between the out-of-plane sliding links is obtained by enforcing a
torsional elastic equivalence between the discrete model and the corresponding continuous media,
Pantò et al. (2017a). Again, the contact area A and the current axial force N acting on the interface are
state parameters adopted for the definition of the yielding strength of the out-of-plane sliding links.

Table 2. Mechanical calibration of the sliding links for a rectangular panel.

Direction Ks d fsy
In-plane  - f sy   c  s N  A
Out-of-plane 1 GBs 1
Ks  d  2s
1 s
 0.21 1 
s4 

f sy   c  s N  A
2 H 3 B  12 B 4  2

2.3 Calibration of diagonal link

The diagonal link is used to reproduce the diagonal shear failure collapse. This mechanism is
associated with the occurrence of diagonal cracks along the direction of the principal compressive
stresses due to the achievement of the limit tensile strength of the material. In the elastic range, the
diagonal link is calibrated by enforcing an equivalence between the articulated quadrilateral and a

6
continuous reference elastic model represented by a four-node plate with consistent kinematics. The
yielding forces in the absence of confinement action are computed according to the limit tensile or
compressive strengths in the continuous reference model, associated to a yielding domain computed
according to Turnsek and Cacovic (1971) or Mohr-Coulomb law. The confinement action associated
with the shear diagonal mechanism is given by the forces acting along the interfaces contouring the
element. In the case of Mohr-Coulomb yielding criterion, this contribution is affected by a specific
friction coefficient d. Further details can be found in Caliò et al. (2012a) and in Cannizzaro et al.
(2018).

3. NUMERICAL APPLICATIONS

The numerical applications here reported refer to a building representative of a structural typology
popular in Portugal between the end of 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. This
typology, known as "Gaioleiro" buildings, corresponds to quite tall structures, usually with six stories,
in which walls are made of rubble masonry and lime mortar, and the horizontal diaphragms are timber
floors and roofs. A four story building with timber roofs and blind wall was investigated in the work
conducted by Mendes and Lourenço (2009), Mendes (2012). Such building was built in 1:3 scale and
subsequently tested on a shaking table at LNEC, Mendes et al. (2014). The simulations here reported
are referred to the real-scale configuration. In terms of vertical loads the building is subjected to the
self-weight of the masonry walls (with density equal to 2162 kg/m3) and to that associated to the four
timber floors whose weight was estimated in 60 kN per each; the timber floors, according to the beam
orientation, transfer their weight to the walls orthogonal to the façade. Details on the geometry can be
found in Mendes (2012). The prototype was studied by means of an advanced FE model implemented
in the software DIANA, conducting static and dynamic nonlinear analyses. In this investigation, a
preliminary study is presented conducted by means of a numerical model implemented and analyzed
in accordance with the proposed approach in the dedicated software platform HiStrA, Caliò et al.
(2015). Nonlinear static analyses were conducted aiming at the calibration of the model with the final
purpose to converge on an extensive numerical campaign to validate the proposed approach in the
dynamic field.
The mechanical properties here assumed are reported in Table 3 and were determined consistently
with the data proposed by Mendes (2012). The mechanical properties of the flexural behaviour were
assumed equal to those adopted for the FE model, considering an exponential softening in tension and
a parabolic law in compression. A crucial aspect is related to the diagonal shear cracking beaviour, for
which a dedicated and independent constitutive law has to be defined according with the proposed
approach. On the other hand, in a FEM approach, a unique mechanical behaviour has to be assigned to
each element. In the numerical simulations here reported, the Turnsek and Cacovic (1971) yielding
criterion was assumed considering the tensile strength as limit value, a perfectly post-elastic behaviour
till a transition drift t, which in the numerical simulations has been assumed equal to 0.6%, with a
subsequent linear softening branch till the achievement of a limit drift u equal to 1.5% at which the
force of the panels with respect to the shear diagonal mechanism tends to zero.

Table 3. Mechanical properties adopted in the numerical model.

E [MPa] t [MPa] Gt [N/mm] c [MPa] Gc [N/mm] G [MPa] t [%] u [%]

1000 0.1 0.05 100 1.6 417 0.6 1.5

The numerical model consists of 704 elements (corresponding to an average mesh size equal to 1.1 m)
and accounts for the constraining effect given by the timber floors with a truss web at each floor,
Figure 4; the total amount of degrees of freedom is 5568 (on the other hand the FE model is
characterized by 75880 degrees of freedom Mendes (2012)). The self weight of the structure was
estimated as 5906 kN. The structure was initially loaded with the self weight and then subjected to
horizontal mass proportional load distributions along the two main directions of the building, namely
parallel and perpendicular to the façade. The target displacements for the two analyses were set
according to the ultimate displacements achieved in FE model.

7
 Figure 4. Axonometric view of the numerical model

The results reported in Figure 5 show the two capacity curves obtained from the numerical
simulations. In this figure, the horizontal top displacement at a monitored node versus the base shear
coefficient are reported along the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively. The monitored node
corresponds to the middle point of the top wall loaded in the out-of-plane direction, whereas the base
shear coefficient was computed as the base shear along the load direction normalized by the self
weight. As expected, the direction parallel to the façade is weaker than the perpendicular one (peak
base shear coefficient equal to 0.11 versus 0.40). Despite this, it presents a much more ductile
behaviour (ultimate displacement equal to 200 mm versus 40 mm).
.
0.12

0.10
Base shear coefficient

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.02 DIANA
HiStrA
0.00
0 50 100 150 200
-0.02
Top displacement [mm]
0.50
0.45 DIANA
0.40 HiStrA
Base shear coefficient

0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
-0.05 0 10 20 30 40 50
Top displacement [mm]

(a) (b)

Figure 5. Capacity curves along the directions (a) parallel and (b) orthogonal to the façade

In Figure 6, the deformed configurations associated with the peak load and ultimate displacement are

8
plotted with their corresponding damage patterns for the two analyses. With regard to the load
direction parallel to the façade, Figure 6a illustrates the damage pattern associated with the peak load
which is mainly characterized by the failure of spandrels in the first two stories. On the other hand, the
damage pattern associated with the ultimate displacement is depicted in Figure 6b. In this case, it is
observed that the spandrels in correspondence of the upper stories present significant damage. In
addition, this damage pattern was also characterized by rocking at the base of the piers. The grey scale
color map is associated to a plastic strain ratio, in which white represents the lower limit (zero plastic
strain) and black corresponds to a displacement greater than or equal to the ultimate displacement (see
the reported scale). The spread areas refer to the flexural behaviour, whereas the crosses inside the
panels denote an excursion in the nonlinear field of the shear diagonal link. The damage pattern at the
peak load for the analysis orthogonal to the façade is reported in Figure 6c, characterized by a large
damaged area at the two lower levels of the walls orthogonal to the façade; at the last step, the
connections between walls are involved in the collapse mechanism with a partial detachment of the
façade.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Figure 6. Damage pattern at (a) the peak load and (b) at collapse for the analyses along the direction parallel to
the façade

The comparison with the FE model shows a good agreement in terms of damage patterns. In the
direction parallel to the façade, the damage concentrates progressively in the spandrels, from the lower
to the upper stories, leading to a final damage pattern in which the overall collapse mechanism
involves all the stories. In the direction orthogonal to the façade a very brittle global behaviour is
encountered with an immediate spread of the damage. The results of this study have to be considered
as a calibration, in the static field, of the computational model based on this numerical strategy. This

9
will allow the assessment of this structural typology in a dynamic context and a further comparison
with experimental and numerical results.

4. CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, a discrete macro-element approach for the numerical simulation of masonry structures
considering the in-plane and the out-of-plane behaviour is adopted. The proposed approach is first
briefly described highlighting the main features and how it evolved towards a comprehensive
environment where the numerical simulations of a wide variety of masonry structures can be
performed in the static and dynamic fields, considering both the present state and possible retrofitted
configurations. To show the potentialities of the adopted numerical strategy, a numerical application
considering a significant benchmark structure is presented. The proposed approach is applied for the
first time to a real scale residential building. The considered case study is representative of a wide
variety of unreinforced historical masonry buildings for which the out-of-plane behaviour plays a
crucial role and was adopted for an extensive experimental campaign with shaking table tests. A
comparison with a sophisticated FE approach limited to the static field is presented. The results show
that, even in the presence of large models, the proposed approach is suitable and reliable and has the
great advantage of reducing the computational effort needed to perform nonlinear analyses with
respect to classical approaches.

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research has been supported by the Italian Network of Seismic Engineering University
Laboratories (ReLUIS).

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