Failure analysis of masonry walls subjected to low velocity impacts

Masonry buildings constructed along busy roads are vulnerable to vehicular impacts. As most of these impacts are likely to occur at low velocity due to severe braking by drivers to avoid catastrophe, the present study reports a failure analysis of masonry walls subject to low velocity impacts. An explicit finite element modelling method incorporating homogenised anisotropic masonry material developed previously for static loading was validated through low velocity impact test datasets reported in the literature. Subsequently, an extensive study was undertaken to evaluate the impact damage patterns of masonry walls of varied boundary conditions, aspect ratios, and slenderness ratios. This paper identifies a threshold impact energy, below which contemporary single leaf masonry walls irrespective of their boundary conditions and aspect ratio, exhibit global damage with varied failure patterns. Slenderness ratio of the impacted wall is shown as the most important parameter in resisting impact loads. The results presented in this study can be useful for developing mitigation strategies for walls vulnerable to low velocity vehicular impacts.