PERFORMANCE OF MASONRY STRUCTUR -REVIEW

Abstract

Masonry is the building of structures from which individual units laid in and bound together by mortar;
the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone,
marble, granite, travertine, limestone, cast stone, concrete block, glass block, stucco, and tile. Masonry is generally a
highly durable form of construction. Local sandstone and clay brick materials were used in order to obtain results
representative with respect to local constructions. Aiming at a comprehensive material description, a set of displacement
controlled experiments were carried out, both under monotonic and cyclic compressive loading. A study on the
mechanical behaviour of brick masonry structures subjected to overloading phenomena is presented. Such structures
suffer a very specific damage, represented by diffused thin cracks, which can lead to long terms effects up to a sudden
collapse. The procedure adopted for testing is described and the results are discussed, namely material brittleness,
intrinsic variability, energy dissipation and stiffness degradation