Keywords: masonry, brickwork, mortar, tensile strain, stress, traction.

Structural masonry is the combination of two different materials, the mortar and the brick. The association of these two materials results in a specific behaviour, which is of interest with respect to the tensile strain in the mortar and the brick. For the research, reported in this paper, a mechanical model was constructed based on finite elements for the analysis of the composite structure of mortar and single units. This enabled the identification of the state of stress in the mortar and in the brick.

Mortar-joints alter radically the stress state in masonry. In the case of unfilled joints, normal and uniaxial stresses can be identified. However, in the case of brickwork with mortar-joints, the state of stress is biaxial. The presence of a biaxial state of stress changes significantly the mechanical behaviour of masonry. The biaxial state of strain causes tensile stresses in the single units, which weakens the structural capacity of the wall. This behaviour results from different elastic characteristics of mortar and brick.

The research, presented in this paper, considered a standard sample to determine horizontal and vertical tensions generated in the mortar and the bricks which permits the demonstration of the stress that is installed in masonry with mortared joints. The model developed predicted more than the fact that the strain is biaxial and that the strain is generated in the brick and not in the mortar. Furthermore, the tractions that occur in the brick may lead to its failure.

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