Abstract
The majority of load-bearing masonry structures of historic buildings are built of mixed or stone masonry composed of regular or irregular (so-called quarry) masonry units – bricks, sedimentary and metamorphic rock – possessing often very different physical and mechanical characteristics. The identification of residual mechanical properties of stone or mixed masonry of irregular walling units requires the application of a suitable diagnostic method, the assessment of the phase of degradation processes and the choice of an appropriate probabilistic model for the strength of mixed masonry. The presented experimental research involves the analysis of the heterogeneity (homogeneity) of mixed masonry of a church from the 17th century. The probabilistic model for masonry strength is developed on the basis of destructive and non-destructive testing of masonry units and mortar. It appears that the probabilistic approach leads to a design value by 75% higher than the deterministic approach.
Highlights
Due to their great variability, material properties of historic masonry are, as a rule, assessed on the basis of tests
The failure mechanism of mixed masonry composed of irregular masonry units differs from the failure mechanism of coursed masonry of regular masonry units
It has been recognised that the partial factor method tends to be conservative in the assessment of existing structures. This may lead to costly repairs and losses of the heritage value in the case of historic structures (Stewart, Lawrence 2002, 2007; Mojsilovic, Faber 2009; Holický et al 2009; Sykora, Holicky 2010) recommended using probabilistic methods for the assessment of masonry strength to facilitate the description of:
Summary
Due to their great variability, material properties of historic masonry are, as a rule, assessed on the basis of tests. The evaluation of masonry strength is a key task in the reliability assessment of a structure. The assessment of mixed masonry poses an extreme difficulty. The failure mechanism of masonry loaded in concentric compression and the exhaustion of its load-bearing capacity in compression are characterised by the appearance and development of vertical, mainly tensile cracks. The first cracks arise at the points of a masonry structure where the acting tensile normal stress σx (principal stress σ1) exceeds the local tensile strength of masonry, or where the transverse deformation exceeds the ultimate relative tensile strain (Witzany et al 2008; Winkler 1975)
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