Wienerberger (Austria)

Finite element software is nowadays an essential part of a structural engineer’s modeling process. The simulations range from trivial linear elastic models to highly non-linear ones, accounting for contact, plasticity, viscoelasticity, or fracture. Though fired clay blocks are an excellent and widely used building material, little effort has been made to extend available failure surfaces for simulating vertically perforated clay block masonry in modern FE Software. Therefore, developing reliable and efficient ways to predict the effective strength of vertically perforated clay block masonry subjected to different loading states is critical. In this study, we aim to qualitatively analyze the failure surface of vertically perforated clay block masonry under in-plane loading, using numerical simulations. Using a previously validated unit cell FE model, we derived the peak stresses from 471 simulations. Subsequently, we compared these results with two failure surfaces from the literature and identified qualitative differences. Taking these differences into account, we propose a concept for numerically calibrating the parameters of the Rankine–Hill failure surface proposed by Lourenço (1997).

In the scope of the transnational access activities of the European research project SERIES, the Laboratorio Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC) has provided access to its 3D shaking table to the international construction company Wienerberger AG and to a group of European experts, in order to perform full-scale seismic tests on an industrial solution for buildings using a modern unreinforced thermal insulation clay block masonry structure. Such solution represents a very common construction method in Central Europe and, although there are cyclic shear test results available, its effective dynamic response under seismic events still requires experimental validation. For this purpose, two full-scale mock-ups with different geometries were tested on the 3D shaking table using a series of seismic records with increasing intensity. This paper focuses on the most relevant experimental results regarding the structural response of the specimens, e.g., the dynamic response evolution, the collapse mechanism identified and the maximum drift values measured. The paper closes with the main conclusions drawn and with proposals for future developments.