Settlement response of masonry constructions

摘要

Masonry constructions, due to the constitutive model of the masonry material, characterized by very low ratios between tensile and compression strengths, exhibit a typical static behavior in regards to the occurrence of small foundation settlements. The same settling structure controls the intensity of the reaction of the settled constraint that is unrelated on the magnitude of the settlement.rnThe actual degree of settling is difficult to quantify. Despite this uncertainty, the internal stress state of the structure is, on the contrary, well-defined. No equilibrium loss can occur during the settling. This is a proper aspect of the masonry structures behavior that can explain the great durability and longevity of so many historic buildings. The paper ends with a comparison between the masonry behavior and that of the standard cohesionless soils. It is so shown that these two materials present the same mechanical behavior.