Recent Developments in Design Methods for Masonry Pillar Structures

Large Masonry pillar structures loaded mainly by compression and to some extent eccentrically have been an important load-bearing structure both in historical buildings and in modern buildings. Recent theoretical developments for design of masonry columns will be presented. This paper provides a brief assessment of existing calculation methods in standards/codes and principle masonry design calculations (EC6design.com) will be carried out for clarifying, which design model is governing the failure. It is nevertheless very important to understand the behavior of the failure mechanism correctly so the column is not designed on the uncertain side. The design by calculation will be compared with test results on medium scale masonry wall loaded by combined vertical and horizontal load. The existing models will be evaluated and the need for further investigations will be proposed. Further the design models will be applied on a case story of high news value. The Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudi.