Stochastic Modeling of Chaotic Masonry via Mesostructural Characterization

The purpose of this study is to explore three numerical approaches to the elastic homogenization of disordered masonry structures with moderate meso/macro length scale ratio. The methods investigated include a representative of perturbation methods, the Karhunen-Loeve expansion technique coupled with Monte-Carlo simulations and a solver based on the Hashin-Shtrikman variational principles. In all cases, parameters of the underlying random field of material properties are directly derived from image analysis of a real-world structure. Added value as well as limitations of individual schemes are illustrated by a case study of an irregular masonry panel.