Sensitivity of out-of-plane capacity to input parameters of Nepali URM walls

Out-of-plane (OOP) is a recurrent seismic damage pattern for unreinforced masonry (URM) constructions. It is usually triggered by insufficient wall-to-wall and wall-to-floor connections. This situation is rather common in Nepal where most of the URM buildings lack of seismic detailing. Therefore, to execute a reliable vulnerability assessment, OOP needs to be considered when dealing with Nepalese masonry constructions. This is generally done by calculating the wall OOP capacity in terms of a force-displacement (F-D) curve. By adopting an analytical solution previously developed by the authors, this work investigates the sensitivity of out-of-plane failure to uncertain input parameters of Nepali URMs. A representative wall from a typical single-story brick-in-mud school building is considered in the analysis. Tornado diagrams are adopted to quantify the influence of the seven relevant input quantities over the OOP force-displacement curve. The results of the sensitivity analysis can be used to prioritize data collection and material testing for the most influential parameters.