DILLON, PATRICK1; FONSECA, FERNANDO2

1) Ph.D. Candidate, Brigham Young University, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, pbdillon@gmail.com

2) Associate Professor, Brigham Young University, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, fonseca@byu.edu

Statistics provides many tools within the area of linear modelling that could be useful to engineers, but many engineers do not use them in their experimental analyses. Statistical tests can be used to make quantitative decisions and make objective conclusions about the results in a study. The data from each study can be rewritten in matrix form to facilitate linear regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the data. Linear regression is used to quantify the influence that the input parameters have on the dependent variable. ANOVA can be used to compare design parameters, quantify conclusion significance, and make inference from the data.

In this paper, these statistical methods are presented and illustrated using two examples taken from the masonry shear wall literature. The analyses are presented and the interpretations are explained step-by-step. The two examples show that new information can be gleaned from existing masonry studies.

Keywords: Masonry, testing, regression, analysis of variance, shear capacity