Mechanical Properties of Brick Vault and Adobe Piers - A Heritage Case Study

Many un-reinforced masonry heritage structures are widely present throughout Iran and around the world. These structures seem to suffer the most sever damage during earthquakes. Not only the prohibitive cost of replacing all substandard structures, but also the conservation of these buildings, necessitates the development of innovative techniques for rehabilitating deteriorating structures. Masonry is a complex material which exhibits distinct directional properties due to the mortar joints which act as planes of weakness. For numerical modelling a masonry structure, macro-models and micro-models can be used. In order to evaluate the material description for macro modelling, tests should be performed in masonry prisms with sufficient size under homogeneous states of stress and strain. This paper reports the mechanical property of the brick vault and adobe piers of a heritage complex building located in Yard city, Iran with clay and clay and gypsum-mortars respectively that are determined by testing prism specimens. Standard testing machines and two points bending test are employed to evaluate the mechanical properties of brick vault, adobe piers, units and mortars. Finally, nonlinear macro-modelling analyses are carried out in order to calibrate the tests results. Good correlation between numerical and tests results is observed.