Response of undressed stone masonry under diagonal compression: an experimental and numerical study

Abstract

UnReinforced Masonry (URM) constitutes a significant portion of the historical building stock across Mediterranean regions, particularly in seismic-prone areas. Due to its heterogeneous and non-engineered nature, es-pecially when built with natural stones and poor mortar, URM exhibits high seismic vulnerability, making its assessment and retrofit a pressing concern. A wide experimental campaign was conducted at the EUCENTRE Founda-tion and the University of Pavia (Italy), including vertical and diagonal com-pression tests on wallettes and in-plane cyclic shear-compression tests on piers, with or without surface jacketing applied to one or both sides. This study focuses on the in-plane mechanical behavior of natural stone URM structures through diagonal compression tests. The experimental re-sults were used to calibrate a numerical model developed in OpenSees, using a macro-modelling approach. The simulation accurately replicated the stiff-ness, strength, and crack patterns observed in the tests. The validated numerical model sets the groundwork for subsequent analyses of stone masonry elements and structures under different geometric, bound-ary, and retrofit conditions, contributing to enhancing the resilience of herit-age URM structures while preserving their cultural and architectural value.