Numerical modeling of shear bond tests on small brick-masonry assemblages

An experimental and numerical investigation has been carried out in Milan for the characterisation of the materials of a two storey, full-scale, brick masonry building prototype set up at the University of Pavia. Among other tests, shear bond tests have been carried out on triplets. The displacements in the vertical and horizontal directions have been carefully measured on bricks and mortar joints under different normal stress levels. For the numerical interpretation of the material behaviour, a Mohr-Coulomb type failure envelope, calibrated on the experimental results, was applied to the brick/mortar interfaces of. a FE model in plane stress conditions. Contact elements with finite sliding capacities under large displacements have been used to model the test.