Brickwork under eccentric compression: Experimental results and macroscopic models

The compressive strength of masonry is a relevant mechanical parameter playing a central role in the assessment of masonry structures. In spite of a large number of experimental data and theoretical approaches, the failure of brickwork pillars and arches, its dependence on the properties of the constituents and on the loading conditions is not yet clear. In this paper, the compressive response of solid clay brick masonry is analyzed on the basis of a series of experimental tests performed on brickwork prisms made with different constituents, either old and new clay bricks arranged with cement and lime mortar, subjected to both concentric and eccentric loading with different load eccentricities. The tests have been displacement controlled in order to reproduce, in terms of both load–displacement and moment–curvature diagrams, the whole response curve, including the post-peak branch. According to the plane section hypothesis, one-dimensional constitutive models of brickwork, suitable for engineering application, are formulated to represent the non-linear behaviour of masonry. The comparison between theoretical predictions and experimental data, also derived from literature, represented in the axial force–bending moment failure domain, point at the adequacy of the models in estimating the load bearing capacity under eccentric loading, provided that the inelastic response is properly taken into account.