The purpose of this research program is to investigate the dynamic failure properties of an unreinforced masonry panel under controlled dynamic loading conditions. This rig design is based on the classic diamond loading pattern. It is designed to achieve a uniform stress over the central area of the panel. The aim of the measurements will be to measure the rate of damage evolution in an inital ...

Building stones and clay-rich Nile mud were ancient Egypt’s main raw construction materials. While the mud was easily accessible along the Nile river valley, the immense quantities of the different stone materials used for construction of the famous pyramids, precious temples and tombs needed a systematic quarrying organization, well arranged transport logistics over extreme distances and a hig...

The majority of the building-stock from before 1900 has been erected with natural hydraulic lime-based mortars in massive masonry. Due to the low modulus of elasticity of lime-based mortars there has never been a need for dilation joints in old masonry structures. Changes in shape as a result of expansion and contraction, due to hot/cold cycles, could be “followed” by these masonry structures w...

Masonry structures are complex systems that require a thorough and detailed knowledge and information regarding their behaviour under seismic excitations. Appropriate modelling of a masonry structure is a prerequisite for a reliable earthquake resistant design or assessment. However, modelling a real structure to a robust quantitative (mathematical) representation is a very difficult, complex a...

In this paper a Romanesque masonry church is analysed in order to assess its structural behaviour and its seismic vulnerability with respect to the actual state of conservation. Starting from a specific case study, a contribution to the issue of modelling and analysis of monumental masonry buildings under seismic action is provided. A finite element methodology for the static and dynamic nonlin...

Fiber-reinforced composite (FRP) materials have gained an increasing success, mostly for strengthening, retrofitting and repair of existing historic masonry structures and may cause a significant enhancement of the mechanical properties of the reinforced members. This article summarizes the results of previous experimental activities aimed at investigating the effectiveness of GFRP (Glass Fiber...

A laboratory procedure aimed at generating a progressive deterioration of the interface between brick and mortar layers in controlled experimental conditions was developed at the Non Destructive Testing Laboratory of the Politecnico di Torino. It is intended as a preliminary stage in the design of a pre-qualification procedure to be applied to repair mortars for restoration of historical masonr...

Abstract Retrofitting thermal insulation to solid masonry walls alters their hygrothermal behaviour, which can be modelled by simulation software. However, such software needs values of key material properties ensure satisfactory results and until now data has not been available for Scottish buildings. This work aims contribute a Scotland-specific dataset use designers working on Thermal conduc...

The macroscopic modelling of in-plane elastic behaviour of composite solids made with regular orthotropic texture is the object of the present study. At the macro-scale, the effect of heterogeneity can be included by adopting an homogenisation toward a generalised continuum on which specific finite element codes are based. As an alternative, a specific rigid element approach has been recently p...

Homogenization of a simultaneous heat and moisture flow in a masonry wall is presented in this paper. The principle objective is to examine an impact of the assumed imperfect hydraulic contact on the resulting homogenized properties. Such a contact is characterized by a certain mismatching resistance allowing us to represent a discontinuous evolution of temperature and moisture fields across th...