Constitutive equation and compatibility of the external loads for linear elastic masonry-like materials

Abstract

The first part of the paper is devoted to the motivation of the constitutive equation of the masonry-like material. It is proved that this equation is the result of three fundamental constitutive assumptions: infinitesimal elasticity, no tensile strength, and a postulate of normality. A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a strain energy function is also supplied. In the second part are examined some necessary conditions for equilibrium in the absence of tensile strength. As a consequence of them it is shown that, under some particular loads, a body can be decomposed into separate, self-equilibrated subbodies. This property, which has no counterpart in ordinary elastic bodies, is used to explain some peculiar behaviours of masonry structures. © 1989 Pitagora Editrice Bologna.