Keywords: automation, unreinforced masonry structures, nonlinear analysis, partitioned modelling, domain decomposition, parallel processing.

Previous research has shown that detailed mesoscale models with nonlinear interfaces can accurately represent the behaviour of unreinforced masonry structures. Nevertheless, this modelling approach is potentially associated with prohibitive computational demands, and consequently an emphasis has been placed almost exclusively on small scale structures. In light of recent developments of effective strategies which reduce the computational cost, this paper presents an automation approach designed to explore the full capacity of such enhancements. A procedure has been developed to perform the automated assembly of generic mesoscale masonry descriptions embedded with advanced domain partitioning features. From a high level of abstraction, this procedure allows the user to define the geometry of an arbitrary masonry structure such as masonry arches, bridges and facades, and to partition the domain by exploiting factorisation conditions. The use of the proposed procedure allows for the practical investigation of complex masonry structures and the comparative study of various partitioning configurations. Examples are presented to demonstrate the potential of the tool, particularly in the investigation of master-slave coupling and hierarchic features.

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