A Novel Approach to the in situ Compression Testing of Stone Masonry Walls

Abstract

Masonry structures constitutes the urban core of several cities throughout the world, justifying the interest for the development of new testing techniques, capable of characterizing their main mechanical properties. The present paper approaches the in situ testing of stone masonry walls, describing the steps that led to the definition of a new compression test set-up. Said set-up was devised to be a modular and adaptable system, capable of being used in different types of walls, with different textures and unit types. Being self-balanced, the hereby-proposed scheme doesn´t introduce any new external loads into the whole building producing, at the same time, a uniform compression load. Throughout the paper, the peculiarities of masonry structures are mentioned, in order to justify some of the considerations taken into account in the development of the system. The results of an experimental campaign performed in an abandoned building in Oporto (Portugal) are presented, showing the outputs that can be extrapolated from the procedure, namely the characterization of the cyclic behavior of the walls and its deformability parameters.