RAMALHO, MARCIO1

1) Full Professor, Engineering School of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, ramalho@usp.br

This paper presents a comparison between experimental and numerical analysis of concrete block smalls walls (wallets) under compression loads. The main goal of the study is to compare damage trace obtained using a numerical non-local damage model specially developed for quasi-brittle materials with the cracks observed in an experimental program. First, blocks and mortar specimens are submitted to compression and tension tests in order to evaluate damage parameters values. Then, wallets built with the same blocks and mortar are also tested to evaluate their behavior. Tests are always carried out with displacement control to obtain the complete load-displacement diagram for the specimens. Numerical models are then used for analysing blocks, mortar specimens and the wallet. Eight-node brick finite elements with secant stiffness matrix are used and the load is applied by means of displacements. Finally, the cracks and rupture mode obtained experimentally are compared with the damage variables obtained with the numerical model.

Keywords: structural masonry, wallets, compression, damage model