Title: Experimental investigation of the horizontal load orientation on masonry corner failure

Authors: Carla Colombo; Nathanaël Savalle; Marco Francesco Funari; Georgios Vlachakis; Anastasios I. Giouvanidis; Shaghayegh Karimzadeh; Paulo B. Lourenço

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal ' Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal; CNRS, Institut Pascal, Clermont Auvergne INP, Université Clermont Auvergne, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France ' School of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK ' Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal ' Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal ' Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal ' Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal

Abstract: Field earthquake reconnaissance has revealed that masonry corner failure is one of the most common failure mechanisms. In literature, few studies have focused on the experimental investigation of such a mechanism, and they were usually performed considering the seismic action passing from the corner bisector. The present study conducts an experimental campaign on masonry corners and investigates how the orientation of the seismic action affects both the seismic capacity and the collapse mechanism. The experimental campaign involves two masonry corner configurations with different wall aspect ratios. Both configurations are made of a single-leaf dry-joint specimen, built with calcium silicate blocks. Results demonstrate how the orientation of the pseudo-static load simulated by means of a tilting table affects the structural capacity.

Keywords: tilting test; flexural failure; rocking-sliding failure; dry-joint; interface stiffness; failure mechanisms; masonry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMRI.2024.139565

International Journal of Masonry Research and Innovation, 2024 Vol.9 No.4, pp.313 - 330

Received: 30 May 2022
Accepted: 09 Jan 2023
Published online: 04 Jul 2024 *

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