Mechanical behaviour of full unit masonry panels under fire action

An analytical model is presented to predict the mechanical resistance of full units masonry panels under combined compressive and bending stress, in the presence of a nominal fire acting on one side. Transitory thermal analysis of the panels is conducted while accounting for the convection and radiation effects produced by fire, to determine the collapse conditions for combined compression and bending: five strain field collapse configurations are considered. The numerical analyses, based on the data drawn from European regulations EN 1996-1-2, permitted the determination of the M-N crushing domains for brick and lightweight aggregate concrete masonry walls, with various thickness and exposure times to nominal fire. A numerical example demonstrates the applicability of the model and a comparison with a set of experimental data on masonry panels performs the efficiency of the model.