Title: Estimating joint stiffness and friction parameters for dry stone masonry constructions

Authors: Pratyusha M. Naik; Tamali Bhowmik; Arun Menon

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai – 600036, TN, India ' Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai – 600036, TN, India ' Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai – 600036, TN, India

Abstract: Dry stack stone masonry constructions, such as corbelled vaults, pillared halls composed of monolithic components, and structural walls generally undergo rigid body failure mechanisms such as overturning or sliding under lateral action caused by support settlements or earthquake shaking. Such structural systems rely purely on self-weight and sliding resistance through friction to resist lateral actions. To develop any reliable numerical model for the damage assessment of these stone masonry structures, knowledge of joint normal and shear stiffness along with friction parameters is essential. The objective of the present work is to estimate these joint parameters for dry masonry joints through experimental tests. Joint shear test and axial compression test have been performed on granite stone blocks. Role of various aspects such as surface roughness, pre-compression levels, moisture condition (dry and wet) and dilatancy on the joint behaviour are considered in the 54 joint shear tests conducted. Numerical simulation of the joint behaviour using a model based on discrete element method (DEM) with parameters obtained from the experiments demonstrates a direct application of the outcome of the experiments.

Keywords: dry stone masonry; joint shear stiffness; joint normal stiffness; surface roughness; friction coefficient.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMRI.2021.113934

International Journal of Masonry Research and Innovation, 2021 Vol.6 No.2, pp.232 - 254

Received: 11 Dec 2019
Accepted: 03 Mar 2020
Published online: 02 Apr 2021 *

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