Earthquake surveys have demonstrated that the lack of out-of-plane strength is a primary cause of failure in many traditional forms of masonry. Moreover, bearing walls are relatively thick and, as a matter of fact, many codes of practice impose a minimal slenderness for them, as for instance the recent Italian O.P.C.M. 3431 [2005. Ulteriori modifiche ed integrazioni all'OPCM 3274/03 (in Italian) and O.P.C.M. 3274, 20/03/2003, Primi elementi in materia di criteri generali per la classificazione sismica del territorio nazionale e di normative tecniche per le costruzioni in zona sismica (in Italian)], in which the upper bound slenderness is fixed respectively equal to 12 for artificial bricks and 10 for natural blocks masonry. In this context, a formulation at failure for regular assemblages of bricks based both on homogenization and Reissner-Mindlin theory seems particularly attractive. In this paper a kinematic limit analysis approach under the hypotheses of the thick plate theory is developed for the derivation of the macroscopic failure surfaces of masonry out-of-plane loaded. The behavior of a 3D system of blocks connected by interfaces is identified with a 2D Reissner-Mindlin plate. Infinitely resistant blocks connected by interfaces (joints) with a Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion with tension cut-off and compressive cap are considered. Finally, an associated flow rule for joints is adopted. In this way, the macroscopic masonry failure surface is obtained as a function of the macroscopic bending moments, torsional moments and shear forces by means of a linear programming problem in which the internal power dissipated is minimized, once that a subclass of possible deformation modes is a priori chosen. Several examples of technical relevance are presented and comparisons with previously developed Kirchhoff-Love static [Milani, G., Lourenço, P.B., Tralli, A., 2006b. A homogenization approach for the limit analysis of out-of-plane loaded masonry walls. J. Struct. Eng. ASCE (in press)] and kinematic [Sab, K., 2003.Yield design of thin periodic plates by a homogenisation technique and an application to masonry walls. C.R. Mech. 331, 641-646] failure surfaces are provided. Finally, two meaningful structural examples are reported, the first concerning a masonry wall under cylindrical flexion, the second consisting of a rectangular plate with a central opening out-of-plane loaded. For both cases, the influence of the shear strength on the collapse load is estimated.
