ABSTRACT
As masonry is the composition of discrete units and mortar joints with different material characteristics and dominating interface effects it cannot be regarded as a continuum material. Regarding masonry under seismic loadings the effects of energy dissipation and the development of stiffness degradation and maximum load resistance under cyclic-loadings are essential. Testing masonry walls on combined in-plane shear loadings can be carried out on different levels. The spatial calculation of masonry structures con-sidering non-linear material behaviour led to the description of the stress distribution in the shear walls in dependency of several parameters. For representing the distribution of the bending moment and eccentricities, the ratio between Mtop/Mbottom is fixed to be 1.0 - mirror-inverted to the centre of the wall. The shear stress distribution at the top of the wall depends on the vertical stresses in the compressed part and the geometric properties of the wall in general.
