Prediction of the evolution of damage in ancient masonry towers

In this work, the results of numerical analyses carried out on a masonry tower are presented, with the aim of investigating the effects of creep-induced damage on the evolution of the global behaviour of the structure in time. These analyses were performed by implementing, into a commercial finite element code with user-oriented interface, a damage model recently developed by the authors to predict the creep behaviour of rock-like materials under constant stress and up to failure. The basic idea of this model is to describe primary creep through the Kelvin element of the Burger's rheological model, whereas the Maxwell's element consists of a spring and a dashpot in series where damage effects take place. The decrease in strength and stiffness associated with the occurrence of damage induces a stress redistribution throughout the structure. The numerical results show that the predicted zones of damage localization match the estimated failure mechanism of the tower, according to the morphology of the ruins.