Crosswise tensile resistance of masonry patterns due to contact friction

Source abstract

The presented research focuses on masonry shells with dry (cohesionless) contacts. In the mechanical analysis of such structures, the material is often assumed to have zero resistance to tension. This simplification can be questioned in light of the fact that due to the frictional resistance between masonry layers compressed to each other, significant tension can be carried perpendicularly to the direction of the compression. The effect can be so considerable that the typical orange-slice cracking of masonry domes can be prevented purely by choosing a suitable brick shape and bond pattern. Based on preliminary 3DEC discrete element simulations with realistic and experimentally validated material parameters in order to understand the failure modes, the phenomenon is quantified in the present paper for the two main types of bond patterns applied in masonry shells: (i) different versions of the running bond pattern, and (ii) two versions of the herringbone pattern. The theoretically predicted failure tensile stresses are checked and validated with 3DEC discrete element simulations.