Modeling masonry as a linear elastic no-tension material, an original approach is
implemented to analyze 3D structural elements, with special attention to walls.
Masonry is replaced by a suitable equivalent orthotropic material with spatially
varying elastic properties and negligible stiffness in case of tensile strain. An
energy-based minimization problem is implemented to define the distribution and the
orientation of the equivalent material for a given compatible load, so as to obtain a
compressive state of stress throughout the structural element. A regular mesh of
hexahedrons is used to speed up the sensitivity analysis. The capabilities
of the approach in predicting no-tension stress solutions in masonry walls
is shown, considering dead loads and both in-plane and out-of-plane live
loads.