Eccentric loading of solid brickwork: experimental and theoretical approaches

The compressive strength of masonry plays a central role in the assessment of masonry structures. In spite of a large number of data and theoretical approaches, the failure of brickwork pillars and arches and its dependence on the strength and geometry of the constituents, on the masonry bond and on the loading conditions seems not yet clear. In this paper, concentric and eccentric loading are analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. A mechanical model for eccentrically loaded pillars has been formulated to relate masonry strength to the brick properties. Tests have been performed on brickwork prisms with different load eccentricities. Comparisons between theoretical and experimental results are discussed