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Civil-Comp Proceedings
ISSN 1759-3433
CCP: 102
PROCEEDINGS OF THE FOURTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CIVIL, STRUCTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING COMPUTING
Edited by:
Paper 81

Limit Analysis of Loaded Out-of-Plane Rubble Masonry : A Case Study in Portugal

G. Milani1, Y.W. Esquivel2, P.B. Lourenço2, B. Riveiro3 and D.V. Oliveira2

1Department of Architecture, Built Environment & Construction Engineering
Technical University of Milan, Italy
2Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal
3Department of Materials Engineering, Applied Mechanics & Construction
University of Vigo, Spain

Full Bibliographic Reference for this paper
, "Limit Analysis of Loaded Out-of-Plane Rubble Masonry : A Case Study in Portugal", in , (Editors), "Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing", Civil-Comp Press, Stirlingshire, UK, Paper 81, 2013. doi:10.4203/ccp.102.81
Keywords: homogenization, quasi-periodic masonry, geometrical survey, limit analysis, structural safety, sampled RVEs.

Summary
An integrated methodology for the characterization of the response of rubble masonry is presented. The behaviour at collapse of a wall belonging to the Guimarães castle (Portugal) is investigated through a rigid-plastic homogenization procedure, accounting both for the actual disposition of the blocks constituting the walls and texture irregularity, given by the variability of block dimensions.

A detailed survey is conducted by means of a photogrammetric technique, allowing for a precise characterization of blocks dimensions and disposition. After a geometric simplification assuming mortar joints reduced to interfaces, homogenized masonry in- and out-of-plane strength domains are evaluated on a number of different representing elements of volume (RVEs) having different sizes and sampled on the walls of the castle. Strength domains are obtained using a finite element (FE) limit analysis with a heterogeneous discretization by triangles and interfaces.

Finally, a series of limit analyses are carried out on the façade for the safety assessment under seismic loads by means of two numerical models, the first one being a heterogeneous model and the second a homogenized approach. The reliability of the results, in terms of limit load and failure mechanism, provided by the homogenized model, when compared to the heterogeneous one is satisfactory.

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