Author
ARTURO SCHULTZ*, JENNIFER BEAN*, MU LU*, HENRYK STOLARSKI* and NELS OJARD**
* University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA ** Geiger Engineers, Bellingham, WA, USA

Abstract
The buckling behaviour of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls subjected to out-of-plane lateral loads is described including an elastic stability solution for critical axial load capacity. The influence of bending on buckling strength is illustrated, and the strongly nonlinear interaction between critical load and out-ofplane bending is discussed. An experimental investigation into the stability of slender masonry walls and the subsequent results are summarised, including combined lateral load-axial compression tests of URM specimens. A comprehensive finite element model is also presented for the combined material and geometric nonlinear analysis of slender URM walls, with the capability of capturing post-cracking and post-buckling behaviour. Material tensile strength is considered; an exponential stress-strain relationship is adopted for the compressive region and its smooth linear extension is used for the tensile region. This model is applicable under different load combinations and different restraint conditions. Numerical results of the model agree with analytical results reported by other researchers.