Study on Test Setups for Determining the Failure Characterization in Masonry Components

This paper presents experimental studies and detailed micro-modeling on test setups to determine the strength and failure mechanism of brick masonry components. Experimental studies include compressive strength tests of masonry units, Red Clay brick masonry triplet tests, and Z-shaped flexural bond tests. Failure mechanism for masonry relates not only to mortar and brick material properties, but also to the bond strength between the brick and mortar. A contact law based on Cohesive Zone Model and Coulomb's law was used to describe the fracture behavior of mortar joints. Numerical studies are based on the interface cohesive model for mixed modes I and II. Tests were evaluated numerically using the Benzeggagh-Kenane mixed mode criterion. The results obtained from the FE simulation showed the reliability of computational modeling approaches for masonry bed joint behavior. Finally, a parametric study on masonry triplet tested under various compression stresses was performed by using the FE simulation. The results indicate the increase of normal compression stress leads to an increase in shear bond strength of masonry.