Mechanical properties of rocks used for the construction of vehicular bridges supported by pier masonry

摘要

In Mexico, since the early stages of the civilization, the stone masonry has assumed an important role in construction due to the wide availability of this kind of material. Masonry is a material composed by bricks, carved or even rubble stones jointed without (dry joint) or with mortar (mortar joints); which is principally formed with sand, water and cementitiuos materials. The research presented in this paper deals with the procedure of obtaining the mechanical properties of rocks placed on piers of four vehicular bridges located in the south of the state of Mexico, these mechanical properties are compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, Poisson ratio, Cohesion and Internal friction Angle of the rocks as independent units, also are reported the Density values. All of these properties are necessary to conduct further research regarding the mechanical behavior of the pier as a structure since this piece of research is part of an ongoing project concerning risk assessment of vehicular bridges developed in Mexico. The identified rocks in masonry were volcanic igneous materials such as dacites, basalts, rhyolites, andesites and rusted andesites. The materials with the highest and the lowest mechanical properties are the basalt and the dacite respectively. It is recommended to use the dacite's properties in order to perform a conservative analysis of the mechanical behavior of any masonry structure, located near the selected sample studied herein.