Impact of the height imperfections of masonry blocks on the load bearing capacity of dry-stack masonry walls

Dry-stacked masonry walls gives rise to geometric imperfections: the height variation of different masonry blocks Delta H and the roughness of the support area Delta h. This paper studies the effect of Delta H on the structural response and the load bearing capacity of masonry walls by highlighting the load percolation. Furthermore, an algorithm was developed to define a stress multiplier coefficient respecting the imperfections Delta H. The algorithm allowed predicting 77% of the amplified stress compared to the FE analysis and showed that the geometric imperfections govern the load percolation in a wall as well as the cracking mode and the bearing capacity. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.