Evaluating the Structural Performance of Unreinforced Monumental Masonry Structures

Even when they are intact, monumental historic masonry structures – including structural systems such as towers, domes, arches, tunnels, buttresses, and vaults – are complex structural systems whose behavior is difficult to quantify using only simple analytical methods. Some of the parameters that complicate the analysis approach are the indeterminate behavior of large interconnected systems, intractable boundary conditions, the variability of materials, direction-dependent strength properties of masonry, and deterioration. When cracks occur, structural behavior changes as displacements take place, and loads are redistributed throughout the structure. …