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In this paper, an experimental investigation addressed at the characterization of compressive strength of a weak units-strong mortar masonry is presented. This masonry, made with natural units of calcarenite improperly named “tufo”, is massively recurrent in the historic center of Matera, an UNESCO site since 1993. The tufo masonry was used for building ordinary and historical constructions, such as ancient churches and palaces, and nowadays it is extensively applied for restoration interventions in order to preserve the historic site and its surrounding area. At first, the research focuses on the evaluation of compressive strength of masonry components, by examining tufo cubic units and lime mortar prisms, and to propose relationships between non-destructive (sonic) and destructive (compression) tests statistically validated. Then, some formulations for estimating the masonry compressive strength by combining those of the basic masonry components are examined. Comparisons with results obtained with prism specimens (doublets and triplets) confirm that in this type of masonry compressive behavior (failure mode and compressive strength) is strictly dependent on tufo units. Finally, a probabilistic study of strength distribution highlights the importance of taking into account the compressive strength dispersion of each component, especially the one related to tufo units.

The article presents a preliminary assessment of seismic damage shown by 60 Mexican churches after the two earthquakes arisen in September 2017. The first earthquake occurred on September 7th and h...

Nowadays, Sonic Pulse Velocity tests (SPV tests) are widely applied for detecting the morphology, hidden defects, and voids within structural elements. This technique, largely applied because non i...

Nowadays, safety assessment under seismic loading of historical masonry buildings, such as ancient churches, is an actual and important topic due to the potential human and economic losses ...

Estimating the saftey of an ancient masonry arch bridge is a legitimate, but very interesting, structural engineering challenge. This is due to the fact that most of these bridges are still in service and suffer from higher and more frequent cyclic loads, a problem not encountered in the past. Therefore, for these structures it is important to know the actual fatigue strength rather than the ultimate carrying capacity in order to provide useful indications on the remaining service life with also possible traffic load limitations.In this article, different models are applied according to the stress-life curve method for estimating the fatigue strength of a case study: an ancient multi-span masonry arch bridge still in service. The obtained results highlight that, unlike steel elements, current design codes do not provide any relevant indication as to the fatigue strength assessment of existing masonry membratures. Moreover, appropriate stress-life curves are needed for evaluating the actual capacit...