On the cyclic behaviour of stone dry masonry joints

Abstract

Dry masonry mechanics received little attention from research community, when compared with resources invested in traditional (mortared joint) masonry. Therefore, this work focuses on the characterization of Coulomb failure criterion and the loaddisplacement behaviour of dry masonry joints under cyclic loading, including aspects as surface roughness, dilatancy, inelastic behaviour, different stones and moisture contents. A displacement controlled test set-up using masonry couplets is used for this purpose. Besides providing a basis for understanding the behaviour of masonry joints, the experiments contribute also to the definition of non-linear numeric models.