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Compressive behaviour of a new reinforced masonry system

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Abstract

This paper presents the behaviour in compression of an innovative reinforced masonry system. The system is made of horizontally perforated units, having common steel bars or prefabricated trusses as horizontal reinforcement. At the wall edges or crossings, confining columns for vertical reinforcement are built with vertically perforated units. Experimental tests, aimed at obtaining basic mechanical characterisation of the construction system, were performed on single constitutive elements i.e., confining columns and masonry panels made of horizontally perforated units, and on completed reinforced masonry walls. Non-linear numerical models, interpreting stress and strain distributions, were developed on the basis of the results. In particular, this paper presents: (a) results of compression tests on columns, masonry panels, and complete reinforced masonry system; (b) comparison of walls built with two types of horizontal reinforcement; (c) outcome of numerical models; and (d) effectiveness of various design equations to evaluate the compressive strength of the system.

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Abbreviations

A, B, K:

Parameters (−)

a, b, c, m, s, t:

Parameters (−)

E:

Elastic modulus (N/mm2)

Eb :

Elastic modulus of unit orthogonal to the bed face (N/mm2)

Ebh :

Elastic modulus of unit parallel to the bed face in the wall plane (N/mm2)

Em :

Elastic modulus of mortar (N/mm2)

f:

Compressive strength (N/mm2)

fb :

Normalized compressive strength of unit orthogonal to the bed face (N/mm2)

fbh :

Normalized compressive strength of unit parallel to the bed face (N/mm2)

fbm :

Mean compressive strength of unit orthogonal to the bed face (N/mm2)

fbhm :

Mean compressive strength of unit parallel to the bed face (N/mm2)

fbt :

Biaxial tensile strength of unit (N/mm2)

fc :

Uniaxial compressive strength (N/mm2)

fc,w :

Compressive strength according to Eq. 1 (N/mm2)

fk :

Characteristic compressive strength of masonry (N/mm2)

fm :

Mean compressive strength of mortar (N/mm2)

fmt :

Mean flexural strength of mortar (N/mm2)

fmu :

Uniaxial compressive strength of mortar (N/mm2)

ft :

Tensile strength (N/mm2)

fy :

Mean yielding stress of reinforcement (N/mm2)

fu :

Mean tensile strength of reinforcement (N/mm2)

Gfc :

Fracture energy in compression (N/mm)

Gft :

Fracture energy in tension (N/mm)

h:

Height of wall (mm)

hm :

Height of mortar joint (mm)

hu :

Height of unit (mm)

t:

Thickness of wall (mm)

Uu :

Non-uniformity coefficient (−)

α, β:

Parameters (−)

ν:

Poisson’s ratio (−)

νb :

Poisson’s ratio of unit orthogonal to the bed face (−)

νbh :

Poisson’s ratio of unit parallel to the bed face in the wall plane (−)

νm :

Poisson’s ratio of mortar (−)

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out under EU Contract COOP-CT-2005-018120: ‘Developing Innovative Systems for Reinforced Masonry Walls—DISWall’ and a University of Padova Grant CPDA085943. The unit and mortar manufacturers, Laterizi Alan Metauro s.r.l. and Tassullo S.p.A. (Italy), and the reinforcing truss producer, Bekaert SA/NV (Belgium), were partners in the EU project. The authors are grateful to M. Dalle Rive for her contribution to experimental tests during her MSc thesis, to G. Guidi for numerical modelling, and to M. Dalla Benetta for supervising experimental tests.

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  1. Department of Structural and Transportation Engineering, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 9, 35131, Padova, Italy

    Francesca da Porto, Flavio Mosele & Claudio Modena

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  1. Francesca da Porto
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Correspondence to Francesca da Porto.

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da Porto, F., Mosele, F. & Modena, C. Compressive behaviour of a new reinforced masonry system. Mater Struct 44, 565–581 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-010-9649-x

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