Abstract:To study the seismic vulnerability of brick masonry structures with openings in their walls, we used ABAQUS finite-element-analysis software to construct a model of the walls of a brick masonry structure, and established reasonable wall-model and numerical-simulation parameters. Comparing our simulated values with the test values obtained in previous research, we verified that the model parameter values were reasonable. Using measured mechanical change data, we analyzed the earthquake vulnerability of a brick masonry structure. The analysis results show that with increases in the number of wall openings, the load capacity of the wall decreases, the horizontal bearing capacity increases, and the relative degradation rate of the wall stiffness increases. The more openings there are in a wall, the faster the lateral stiffness of the brick masonry structure decreases. Therefore, the seismic vulnerability of a brick masonry structure is more obvious as the number of wall openings increases.