Characterization of cyclic behavior of dry masonry joints

Dry masonry mechanics received little attention from the research community when compared with resources invested in traditional (mortar joint) masonry. Nevertheless, a large number of historical stone constructions use dry masonry joints, while, in constructions originally built with weak lime mortar, mortar deterioration leads to a behavior similar to dry masonry. Therefore the objective of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of the behavior of dry masonry joints under cyclic loading, which is a key aspect for seismic actions. The work focuses on the characterization of Coulomb failure criterion and the load-displacement behavior of dry masonry joints under cyclic loading, including aspects as surface roughness, dilatancy, and inelastic behavior. A displacement controlled test setup using masonry couplets is used for this purpose. Besides providing a basis for understanding the behavior of masonry joints in shear, the experiments contribute also to the definition and parametrization of advanced nonlinear numeric models.