UNREINFORCED STONE MASONRY UNDER IN-PLANE STATE OF STRESS FROM GRAVITATIONAL AND SEISMIC ACTIONS. MEASURED AND PREDICTED BEHAVIOUR

Abstract eng:
Unreinforced masonry made of stone and low strength mortar has been used for centuries in forming the structural system of old type buildings as well as monumental structures (such as churches etc.) The behaviour of this type of structural systems that survive today, when subjected to the combined gravitational loads and seismic actions, is still of interest. In this framework, the present work tries to evaluate the limit-state in-plane behavior of stone masonry vertical structural elements. Initially, the behaviour of vertical specimens constructed of stone masonry is presented as observed through a sequence of laboratory tests. These specimens were constructed employing relatively weak mortar that resembles the mortar employed in old-type stone masonry construction. The in-plane loading that was used subjected these specimens to simultaneously vertical and horizontal loads. The possibilities offered by non-linear inelastic numerical analyses as means for examining the performance of such un-reinforced stone masonry vertical structural elements is next examined. Numerical simulation results are presented making use of such non-linear inelastic numerical analyses that are applied to the vertical stone masonry specimens that were tested in the laboratory. Through the comparison of the obtained numerical predictions with the observed behaviour the validity of the numerical approach is discussed.

• Export as: BibTeX | MARC | MARCXML | DC | EndNote | NLM | RefWorks
• Add to your basket