Why and how rigid blocks for masonry

Prof. Maurizio Angelillo, Università di Salerno – Dr. Fabiana De Serio, Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘Federico II’

The broad topic of this talk is the Statics and Kinematics of masonry structures, made of monolithic blocks, modelled a la Heyman, i.e., rigid bodies loaded by external forces submitted to unilateral  constraints and undergoing small displacements, under the simplifying assumption that sliding on interfaces is prevented. We focus on the effect, in terms of internal forces, of specified loads, by using given settlements/eigenstrains to trigger special regimes of the internal forces.
The talk is divided into two parts:
1. A brief outline of the simple theory behind the analysis;
2. The presentation of a case study.
Although the application we present here concerns the analysis of a particular masonry structure composed by monolithic pieces and whose blocks are not likely to break individually, the method can be applied also to generic masonry structures, such as those made of bricks or small stones. For unilateral continua, Heyman’s assumptions translate into a normality assumption which allows to employ the two Limit Analysis theorems. Thus the kinematical problem, consisting in the search of the piecewise rigid displacement field produced by assigned settlements, can be formulated as a minimum problem. When a specific piecewise rigid-body displacement nucleates in a portion of the structure, that part exhibits a one degree of freedom mechanism, and becomes statically determined. Therefore the internal forces can be computed, despite the original un-cracked structure being abundantly overdetermined, thus admitting infinitely many statically admissible stress regimes.
Within this theory, we present as a case study the equilibrium and the effect of settlements in a particular masonry structure made of monolithic blocks, namely the triple helical stair of the convent of San Domingos de Bonaval, located in the Bonaval district of Santiago de Compostela.

Reference: Prof. Anna Pandolfi (anna.pandolfi@polimi.it)

Bio-sketch
Prof. Maurizio Angelillo is professor of Statics and Strength of Materials at the Università degli Studi di Salerno. His main interests: application of nonlinear solid mechanics to civil and industrial engineering issues, namely masonry structures and biological systems. He coordinates the activity of the research group within the laboratory of micromechanics and biomechanics, Università degli Studi di Salerno.
Ms Fabiana De Serio is currently completing her PhD at the Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II. Ms De Serio holds a MSc in Structural and Geotechnical Engineering and a BSc in Environmental Engineering (Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘Federico II’).