Creep failure of two historical masonry towers: analysis from material to structure Online publication date: Thu, 04-Jan-2018
by Els Verstrynge; Dionys Van Gemert
International Journal of Masonry Research and Innovation (IJMRI), Vol. 3, No. 1, 2018
Abstract: The collapse of several historical masonry towers has been attributed to gradually increasing mechanical damage, such as creep cracking which occurs under constant stress levels. This paper reviews theoretical, experimental and numerical methods for analysing compressive creep in historical masonry. The investigations focus on creep behaviour in ferruginous sandstone, as results are applied to understand the collapse of two historical towers in Belgium that were both constructed in local sandstone. At the level of the material, cracking, creep strains and acoustic emissions are studied in small-to-medium scale sandstone samples under dry and saturated conditions. Results indicate an acceleration of the degradation process when water absorption takes place during the secondary creep phase. At the structural level, numerical macro modelling is performed to investigate the effect of stress redistributions on creep behaviour of three-leaf masonry. Finally, experimental and numerical results are related to the collapse of two historical towers.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Masonry Research and Innovation (IJMRI):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook