AbstractIn this study a mathematical model is proposed to predict the non‐linear in‐plane behaviour of clay brick masonry walls when subjected to dynamic excitations. Owing to its length, the study is divided into two parts. This part is devoted to a description of the appropriate experiments and to the development of the mathematical model, including use of experimental data. In Part 2 the model is completed by establishing the parameter functions appearing in it.The form of the non‐linear model is established by developing a simple, linear model from more complicated ones previously developed by the authors, and then extending this simple model to cover behaviour in the non‐linear range. The model contains two types of parameter function. One describes elasto‐plastic stresses and depends on strains; the other describes viscous stresses and is a function of strain rates.The experimental work was carried out using the shaking table of the Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley. The experiments involved in‐plane horizontal earthquake excitations. The intensity of excitation, starting with a small value, was increased gradually through the beginning of cracking until damage was complete. Time histories of accelerations and displacements relative to a fixed frame were recorded at the upper and lower edges, and at the mid‐height of the wall specimen.At the end of this part, the experimental data are processed to obtain the data for a ‘complex frequency response function’ of the wall specimen. The reduced data will be used in the optimization a
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