Predicting the Out-Of-Plane Seismic Strength of Unreinforced Masonry Infill Walls

Technical codes adopted literature formulations for the prediction of the out-of-plane strength of unreinforced masonry infills without an extensive assessment of their effectiveness. This study presents such formulations in detail. The influence of the external load shape on infills’ out-of-plane strength is discussed and strength formulations are modified to account for this issue. An experimental database is collected to assess the predictive capacity of these models and identify the most effective one. The selected mechanical-based model is simplified to propose a reliable formulation for the prediction of the out-of-plane strength of infills under seismic and other external loads.