Modeling of long-term deformations and damage accumulation in masonry

High, sustained loads in masonry cause time-dependent deformations, which can lead to failure of the construction. This phenomenon mostly occurs in high constructions, such as historical towers, where the dead load imposes significant stresses on the base of the tower [4]. As knowledge and experimental data are lacking to describe this time-dependent behavior in historical masonry, a research program has been set up [1]. Aim of the research described in this paper is to obtain a structural model and parameter values in order to predict creep failure in masonry. A rather extensive series of accelerated creep tests is performed in order to obtain an average value and standard deviation for the model parameters. The long-term behavior is simulated with these parameter values and the model predictions are validated with the results of long-term creep tests.