Failure Surfaces for Common Brickwork Settings Used in Historical Masonry Structures

Researchers have developed comprehensive failure surfaces for common brickwork settings used in historical masonry structures, providing critical insights into the mechanical behavior of ancient constructions. The study focuses on the Roman brick setting and Herringbone arrangements, prevalent in historical vaulted constructions like those found in Tabriz Bazaar. Using a micro-modeling approach with the Distinct Element Method, the research numerically modeled the discrete medium of brickwork units, accounting for geometric and physical nonlinearities, as well as discontinuities between bricks and mortar. The findings reveal that failure in masonry cannot be simply defined by principal stresses alone; instead, it requires consideration of a third variable, such as the angle θ between principal stress axes and material axes. This study offers a robust graphical representation of failure surfaces in terms of full stress components (σx, σy, τxy) or principal stresses and θ, enhancing our understanding of the complex fracturing mechanisms in masonry materials.

Halabian, A. M., & Ansary, P. (2016). Failure Surfaces for Common Brickwork Settings Used in Historical Masonry Structures. International Journal of Architectural Heritage, 10(7), 919–937. https://doi.org/10.1080/15583058.2016.1158332