Title: Crack patterns identification in masonry structures with a C° displacement energy method

Authors: Antonino Iannuzzo; Fabiana De Serio; Antonio Gesualdo; Giulio Zuccaro; Antonio Fortunato; Maurizio Angelillo

Addresses: Department of Structures for Engineering and Architecture, University of Naples Federico II, via Claudio 21, Napoli 80125, Italy ' Department of Structures for Engineering and Architecture, University of Naples Federico II, via Claudio 21, Napoli 80125, Italy ' Department of Structures for Engineering and Architecture, University of Naples Federico II, via Claudio 21, Napoli 80125, Italy ' Department of Structures for Engineering and Architecture, University of Naples Federico II, via Claudio 21, Napoli 80125, Italy ' Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II 132, Fisciano (SA) 84084, Italy ' Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II 132, Fisciano (SA) 84084, Italy

Abstract: This paper deals with the analysis of fracture identification of a generic masonry structure subjected to loads and to kinematical actions (settlements, distorsions). The masonry is composed of normal rigid no-tension material (NRNT), that is a Heyman's material treated as a continuous body. An energy minimum criterion is used to solve the equilibrium problem, using continuous (C°) displacement fields and adopting a classical Finite Element approximation for the geometrical description. Some examples illustrate the way in which our approximate method detects crack patterns in some simple cases. The C° method, though more cumbersome form the numerical point of view, exhibits great efficiency in the identification of the exact location and orientation of the crack system, compared to methods based on discontinuous displacement fields.

Keywords: masonry; no-tension material; settlements and distorsions; C° displacement field; smeared cracks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMRI.2018.093490

International Journal of Masonry Research and Innovation, 2018 Vol.3 No.3, pp.295 - 323

Received: 03 Oct 2017
Accepted: 16 Feb 2018
Published online: 26 Jul 2018 *