Water content affects mortar properties and the quality of the resultant masonry, however, it is often subjectively determined by the mason by assessing workability. This lack of explicit methodology and data, can lead to lack of mortar consistency and field performance, adversely affecting full uptake of lime mortars into mainstream technology. The aim of this research is to assist develop con...

Work in masonry is divided in different tasks and performed by sub-contractors. Sub-contractors specialize in a given skill to accomplish a specific construction task and usually work with crews. Due to this specialization, multiple crews with different skills are present on the jobsite at any one time and the sub-contractor is responsible of configuring crews to produce good quality work by me...

Masonry infill has been widely used as building material due to its cost effectiveness and availability.  The failure of these masonry infill walls during the past earthquakes have underscored the importance of ensuring the safety of the infill walls when it is subjected to lateral loads. In-plane and out of plane failures have been observed in many reinforced concrete framed building with maso...

In terms of knowledge and technology innovation, sustainability is defined as the ability for a society or culture to develop, incorporate and maintain knowledge and technology in a long term manner without continued outside input. In rural East Africa, the prevalence of low-cost building materials and unskilled labor produce buildings that provide poor security for charitable groups working to...

An increasing interest in the preservation of historic structures has produced a need for new methods for reinforcing curved masonry structures, such as arches and vaults. These structures are generally very ancient, have geometries and materials which are poorly defined and have been exposed to long-term historical movements and actions. Consequently, they are often in need of repair or reinfo...

Abstract: Masonry infill is considered as a non-structural element in all type of buildings where masonry use. But, masonry infill walls are mainly used to increase initial stiffness and strength of reinforced concrete (RC) frame buildings. This Open First storey is also termed as “Soft Storey”. The upper storeys have brick infilled wall panels with various opening percentage in it. In many cit...

The purpose of this study is to explore three numerical approaches to the elastic homogenization of disordered masonry structures with moderate meso/macrolengthscale ratio. The methods investigated include a representative of perturbation methods, the Karhunen-Loève expansion technique coupled with Monte-Carlo simulations and a solver based on the Hashin-Shtrikman variational principles. In all...

Among the different non-destructive tests used to carry out an exhaustive survey about the mechanical and durability characteristics of a masonry made of solid tile-bricks, the ultrasonic method has experienced a wide diffusion thanks to its low costs and to its easiness of use; the method essentially consists in detecting the propagation velocity of ultrasonic pulses propagating through a soli...

Fundación Zain is developing new built heritage assessment protocols. The goal is to objectivize and standardize the analysis and decision process that leads to determining the degree of protection of built heritage in the Basque Country. The ultimate step in this objectivization and standardization effort will be the development of an information and communication technology (ICT) tool for the...

The seismic assessment of existing masonry buildings is based on the prediction of their nonlinear response under lateral loading. This requires a reliable estimation of the force and displacement demand. For this purpose, modelling strategies using structural component elements are widely applied both in research and in engineering practice, since they can provide a satisfactory description of...