Author
C SUI 1, M Y RAFIQ 1, D EASTERBROOK 1, G BUGMANN 1 and G ZHOU 2
1 University of Plymouth, UK
2 Harbin University of Technology (HIT), China

Abstract
Due to the highly anisotropic properties of masonry panels, it is very difficult to predict accurately their behaviour. In the past finite element analysis (FEA) micro and macro models have been used to improve the quality of the FEA to be closer to their experimental results, but still there is no established method(s) that suitably address this problem. Research in the University of Plymouth (UoP) introduced a methodology of model updating that uses the concept of Correctors and Cellular Automata combined with a non-linear FEA, which more accurately predict the behaviour of masonry panels. This paper presents further refinements to the findings of the previous research by the team at UoP and uses evolutionary computation and regression analysis methods. New corrector values obtained by this method further improve the results of the non-linear FEA, which shows better agreement with the experimental results. In this study failure load and the load deflection relationships are studied for comparison.