An experimental-numerical procedure for the identification of mesoscale material properties for brick-masonry

The response of unreinforced masonry is very complex because of its inherent heterogeneity and nonlinear behaviour, which is governed by the interaction between masonry units and mortar joints. Mesoscale modelling can provide a very good representation of the actual response of masonry structures when using adequate material parameters for the individual components. An attractive strategy has been recently developed by the authors for the calibration of the mesoscale material properties. This is based upon the inverse analysis of the macroscale behaviour of a part of the structure subjected to the pressures exerted by two flatjacks arranged along the mortar bed joints and the perpendicular direction. Thus far this strategy has been applied only to pseudo-experimental data, whereas in this paper it is enhanced considering the experimental results obtained in physical laboratory tests on running bond masonry walls. It is demonstrated that inverse analysis of the measured experimental displacement field allows the estimation of the elastic properties, the cohesion and the friction angle for the interface elements used in the mesoscale description to represent mortar joints.