This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.
The compressive strength of concrete in existing r.c. structures may be estimated by means of Non-Destructive and Moderately Destructive techniques. While a large bibliography is available for “modern concrete”, for historical concrete, produced in the pre-code period till the ‘20 s, the task is more complex due to lack of standardization, improper rules of thumbs for proportioning of aggregates and to a substantial lack of data. Also the applicability of the procedures calibrated on modern concrete to historical concrete is an issue that is hardly addressed. In this paper, an experimental campaign on historical-like concrete makes use of pull-out tests to estimate the compressive strength. The effect of round aggregates, that are typical of historical concrete, of the casting direction and of the position of the tests (near the surface or inside the specimen) are discussed showing that standard procedures commonly used on modern concrete can be used on historical concrete only if specific calibration is performed. Besides, near-the-surface and inner tests are compared to the standard cube strength, showing the reliability of the pull-out procedure also for this kind of concretes.
A. Brencich; F. Hasweh; D. Pera. Calibration of Pull-Out tests on Historical-like Concrete. Materials and Structures 2021, 54, 1 -15.
AMA StyleA. Brencich, F. Hasweh, D. Pera. Calibration of Pull-Out tests on Historical-like Concrete. Materials and Structures. 2021; 54 (2):1-15.
Chicago/Turabian StyleA. Brencich; F. Hasweh; D. Pera. 2021. "Calibration of Pull-Out tests on Historical-like Concrete." Materials and Structures 54, no. 2: 1-15.
In this paper, the case of a three-levels underground parking garage, needing deep excavations close to an existing masonry building, and of its deformable retaining structures is discussed. Although the geological survey showed a critical situation, no attention was paid to the provisional phases. Even when cracks appeared on the building shortly after the beginning of the excavations, and a monitoring system showed that damage on the building was increasing, no attention has been paid to the deformation of the slope behind the retaining structures. The sliding of the excavation front was avoided due to the prompt intervention of the courts and to provisional buttresses built in short time to sustain the excavation front. As a result, the nearby building had to be evacuated and could be reopened only after retrofitting works to the building and to the retaining structures. A theoretical analysis provides a deep understanding inside the phenomena that took place: excavations activated plastic deformations in the slope and in the retaining structures that reduced the safety factor of both the slope and the foundation system of the building below the admissible values. This could be foreseen provided a non-linear geotechnical analysis of the excavations-building interaction had been performed for the provisional phases.
Rossella Bovolenta; Antonio Brencich. Effect of deep excavations and deformable retaining structures on neighboring buildings: A case study. Engineering Failure Analysis 2021, 122, 105269 .
AMA StyleRossella Bovolenta, Antonio Brencich. Effect of deep excavations and deformable retaining structures on neighboring buildings: A case study. Engineering Failure Analysis. 2021; 122 ():105269.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRossella Bovolenta; Antonio Brencich. 2021. "Effect of deep excavations and deformable retaining structures on neighboring buildings: A case study." Engineering Failure Analysis 122, no. : 105269.
The issue of concrete strength often arises in civil engineering practice, either due to quality control of new constructions or due to the assessment of existing structures. To this aim, one of the most widely spread techniques is the rebound hammer (Schmidt hammer) test, for which calibration is still related to the original Schmidt curve dating back to the early 50’s. In spite of the large amount of research work performed in the last decades, the uncertainties of the rebound test are still not clearly quantified and open to further insight. This paper presents and discusses a wide research campaign on laboratory specimens and on third-party specimens delivered to the Laboratory for Building Materials of the University of Genoa, Italy, for standard quality controls. While it is well known that moisture content, surface finishing, and concrete maturity strongly affect the test result, the effect of the stress state has not yet been studied and is found in this research to be a further parameter affecting the test reliability. The final outcome of all the uncertainties is variability in estimated concrete strength as large as ±70%; additionally, some issues are discussed on the intrinsic uncertainty of this test. As already demonstrated by many authors, the results of this research also show that a universal calibration curve to be used for any concrete, in any condition, conceptually does not exist.
Antonio Brencich; Rossella Bovolenta; Valeria Ghiggi; Davide Pera; Paolo Redaelli. Rebound Hammer Test: An Investigation into Its Reliability in Applications on Concrete Structures. Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 2020, 2020, 1 -11.
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich, Rossella Bovolenta, Valeria Ghiggi, Davide Pera, Paolo Redaelli. Rebound Hammer Test: An Investigation into Its Reliability in Applications on Concrete Structures. Advances in Materials Science and Engineering. 2020; 2020 ():1-11.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich; Rossella Bovolenta; Valeria Ghiggi; Davide Pera; Paolo Redaelli. 2020. "Rebound Hammer Test: An Investigation into Its Reliability in Applications on Concrete Structures." Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 2020, no. : 1-11.
A crucial aspect of the assessment of existing r.c. structures is the efficiency of the anchorage of the bars. This is specifically true for historic pre-code concrete, when the basic principles of r.c. structures were either not well understood nor set in a code practice. This is true also for the Hennebique-type structures that make use of a shape of the anchorages that falls outside modern codes. In spite some tests performed by Hennebique and his concessionaries at the times of their activity, it seems that nobody noticed that the shape of anchorages was a weak point of their system. In this paper a series of tests have been performed on two typical Hennebique anchorages: fish-tail ends and plate stirrup bends. Tests have been performed using a Hennebique-type concrete, with similar sieve curve, low to medium strength, large round aggregates and an excess of water. The outcomes outline the collapse mechanisms of these anchorages and allow to set assessment type formulas that may be of common use in practical applications. It has to be noted that direct verifications, as large as possible, are needed when assessing a pre-code structures due to the lack or standards that characterizes pre-code r.c. structures.
Antonio Brencich; Matteo Nebiacolombo. Anchorage of reinforcement bars in Hennebique structures. Construction and Building Materials 2020, 265, 120184 .
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich, Matteo Nebiacolombo. Anchorage of reinforcement bars in Hennebique structures. Construction and Building Materials. 2020; 265 ():120184.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich; Matteo Nebiacolombo. 2020. "Anchorage of reinforcement bars in Hennebique structures." Construction and Building Materials 265, no. : 120184.
The actual load carrying structure of a masonry bridge is not just the arch but a complex structure consisting of the arch, the fill and the spandrels. The interaction between the arch and the backfill is responsible for a span of the structural arch shorter than its geometric appearance. Starting from this observation, the selective injection of the fill may be a low-invasive retrofitting technique for increasing the load carrying capacity of a masonry bridge. Since injection can be performed rather easily from the spandrels, it does not need the traffic to be stopped, thus turning out to be quite cheap. Experimental tests on reduced scale models show that this technique may increase by 2/3 the l.c.c. of a masonry bridge. The similarity conditions for reduced scale models to be tested are discussed in advance. The results of the tests show also that the distribution of the load through fill is not as wide as usually assumed and does not account for a relevant contribution to the l.c.c. of the bridge.
Antonio Brencich; Davide Pera. A Low-Invasive Retrofitting Technique for Masonry Bridges: Experimental Results. Degradation Theory of Long Term Operated Materials and Structures 2019, 500 -508.
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich, Davide Pera. A Low-Invasive Retrofitting Technique for Masonry Bridges: Experimental Results. Degradation Theory of Long Term Operated Materials and Structures. 2019; ():500-508.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich; Davide Pera. 2019. "A Low-Invasive Retrofitting Technique for Masonry Bridges: Experimental Results." Degradation Theory of Long Term Operated Materials and Structures , no. : 500-508.
Due to the large number of masonry bridges in the European Infrastructural network, the maintenance and retrofitting of this kind of bridges is an up-to-date issue of Structural Engineering. In this paper, the Mechanics of masonry bridges is discussed starting from the definition of load carrying structure, which is much wider than the arch itself. Once proper similarity criteria for reduced scale laboratory testing are discussed, the results of some tests are used to outline the basic features of the mechanical response of masonry bridges. Arch-Fill interaction turns out to be crucial for the l.c.c. of the bridge since it is responsible also for the span of the structural arch. The concept of Limit Load is discussed, which is not so trivial to be defined as usually assumed since it does not correspond to the Ultimate Load that activates a collapse mechanism. Once the basic issues of the dynamic and seismic response of masonry bridges are discussed, showing unexpected good seismic performances of these massive bridges, new trends in retrofitting of the bridges are discussed.
Antonio Brencich. Masonry Bridges and Viaducts: Testing, Mechanics, Retrofitting Towards an Extended Life. Degradation Theory of Long Term Operated Materials and Structures 2019, 3 -30.
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich. Masonry Bridges and Viaducts: Testing, Mechanics, Retrofitting Towards an Extended Life. Degradation Theory of Long Term Operated Materials and Structures. 2019; ():3-30.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich. 2019. "Masonry Bridges and Viaducts: Testing, Mechanics, Retrofitting Towards an Extended Life." Degradation Theory of Long Term Operated Materials and Structures , no. : 3-30.
Maintenance and upgrading are the urging needs of the European infrastructural network that, for masonry bridges, mainly mean: (i) widening of the deck; (ii) installation of the safety barriers; (iii) seismic safety, for seismic-prone areas. The common approach to the first two issues makes use of r.c. slabs, often lied down on the spandrels, and some other procedure somehow derived from r.c. construction. The outcomes may be serious damages to the bridges: the load distribution on the bridge is completely changed from the original design and damage may be induced in the arch barrel. In this paper, a case study is discussed to introduce a new technique for widening the bridge deck and setting the safety barriers is discussed: a r.c. slab, lied down onto the fill and separate from the spandrels, with lateral cantilevers, is used to widen the deck and so restrain the safety barriers. Large concrete blocks connected to the bedrock by means of piles have been built behind the skewbacks as horizontal restraints to the slab in case of seismic actions. In this way horizontal actions on the slab and the impact load of vehicles on the barriers are directly sustained by new structures and not by the old bridge. Such an approach is also cheap and does not necessarily ask for interrupting the bridge service.
Antonio Brencich; Alessandro Clemente; Massimo Robiola. Errors and New Trends in Widening the Deck of a Road Bridge. Degradation Theory of Long Term Operated Materials and Structures 2019, 849 -857.
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich, Alessandro Clemente, Massimo Robiola. Errors and New Trends in Widening the Deck of a Road Bridge. Degradation Theory of Long Term Operated Materials and Structures. 2019; ():849-857.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich; Alessandro Clemente; Massimo Robiola. 2019. "Errors and New Trends in Widening the Deck of a Road Bridge." Degradation Theory of Long Term Operated Materials and Structures , no. : 849-857.
The assessment of the mechanical properties of steel bars in existing reinforced concrete is crucial as much as the estimate of concrete strength. Till now no Non Destructive Tests (NDT) or Moderately Destructive Tests (MDT) have been developed to this aim. In this paper the Leeb durometer is applied to reinforced concrete (r.c.) steel bars either extracted from the structures, to be tested in laboratory, and directly tested in situ. The surface is smoothed by means of a procedure that guarantees very low roughness (1.6 µm), less than the value required by the Leeb method (10 µm). A correlation between Leeb hardness and yield strength is provided and validated by comparison with other well established equations in literature and test data. Even though the large variety of steel types, mainly of the early 20th century, makes the data fitting not fully satisfactory, the procedure may be extensively used as a MDT technique to investigate the properties of steel bars in addition to direct tensile tests on samples extracted from the structure.
A. Brencich; F. Campeggio. Leeb hardness for yielding stress assessment of steel bars in existing reinforced structures. Construction and Building Materials 2019, 227, 116570 .
AMA StyleA. Brencich, F. Campeggio. Leeb hardness for yielding stress assessment of steel bars in existing reinforced structures. Construction and Building Materials. 2019; 227 ():116570.
Chicago/Turabian StyleA. Brencich; F. Campeggio. 2019. "Leeb hardness for yielding stress assessment of steel bars in existing reinforced structures." Construction and Building Materials 227, no. : 116570.
Antonio Brencich. A post-installed insert for pull-out tests on concrete up to 70 MPa. Construction and Building Materials 2015, 95, 788 -801.
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich. A post-installed insert for pull-out tests on concrete up to 70 MPa. Construction and Building Materials. 2015; 95 ():788-801.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich. 2015. "A post-installed insert for pull-out tests on concrete up to 70 MPa." Construction and Building Materials 95, no. : 788-801.
The paper deals with the dome of the Basilica of S. Maria Assunta in Carignano in Genoa, designed by Galeazzo Alessi and built in the sixteenth century, for which meridian cracking, rather common in masonry domes, requires the assessment of the dome. In order to set a general procedure for the assessment this structures, limit analysis approaches are here discussed and compared. On the basis of classic limit analysis, local (dome only) and global (dome-drum system) collapse mechanisms are considered considering the different behaviour of several structural elements (lantern, shells of the dome, drum, colonnade). A static (safe theorem) and a kinematic approach are applied to the structure by means of equilibrium limit conditions and kinematically admissible collapse mechanisms. Comparisons between the obtained results are carried out so as to: (i) discuss a general approach to the assessment of dome-drum systems based on both numerical tools and standard limit analyses approaches; (ii) provide a first glance in the assessment of the dome.
Andrea Bacigalupo; Antonio Brencich; Luigi Gambarotta. On the Statics of the Dome of the Basilica of S. Maria Assunta in Carignano, Genoa. Masonry Structures: Between Mechanics and Architecture 2015, 101 -126.
AMA StyleAndrea Bacigalupo, Antonio Brencich, Luigi Gambarotta. On the Statics of the Dome of the Basilica of S. Maria Assunta in Carignano, Genoa. Masonry Structures: Between Mechanics and Architecture. 2015; ():101-126.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndrea Bacigalupo; Antonio Brencich; Luigi Gambarotta. 2015. "On the Statics of the Dome of the Basilica of S. Maria Assunta in Carignano, Genoa." Masonry Structures: Between Mechanics and Architecture , no. : 101-126.
This article discusses the assessment of the dome of the Basilica of S. Maria of Carignano in Genoa, designed by Galeazzo Alessi in the 16th century. The access to the private archive of the Sauli Family allowed a detailed history of the Basilica to be reconstructed clarifying several crucial aspects of the structure: the actual depth of the foundation system, the materials of the load bearing structure, mainly of the dome and of the drum, and the actual building sequence. The restoration works (steel hoop) carried out in the past decades, discovered by means of the historical research, are related to the severe crack pattern of the dome, which today necessitates a detailed insight into its mechanical response. It is showed that historical information is the key for understanding several issues that a “technological” engineering approach would leave unsolved. In addition, historical data are used to setup a non-linear incremental finite element model (FEM) procedure, referred to a slice (a ratio of 1/16) of the structure due to symmetry conditions, which is able, in spite of its reduced computational demand, to show that the dome response is strictly related also to the drum features, thus explaining cracking and the role of hooping stresses (and ties) in the global equilibrium. Some issues for the retrofitting of dome-like structures are discussed.
Antonio Brencich; Luigi Gambarotta; Andrea Ghia. History-Based Assessment of the Dome of the Basilica of S. Maria of Carignano in Genoa. International Journal of Architectural Heritage 2014, 8, 690 -717.
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich, Luigi Gambarotta, Andrea Ghia. History-Based Assessment of the Dome of the Basilica of S. Maria of Carignano in Genoa. International Journal of Architectural Heritage. 2014; 8 (5):690-717.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich; Luigi Gambarotta; Andrea Ghia. 2014. "History-Based Assessment of the Dome of the Basilica of S. Maria of Carignano in Genoa." International Journal of Architectural Heritage 8, no. 5: 690-717.
A new type of postinstalled wedge anchor (B15G) is presented. A refined geometry of the anchor bolt and a careful choice of all the technical details allow the insert to work also in tensile stress states and to avoid much of the practical uncertainties that affect the commonly used procedures. The calibration of the procedure has been performed on 3 classes of concrete and for 5 stress distributions (medium and low compression, vanishing stress states, inhomogeneous compressive stresses, and inhomogeneous tensile stresses). It has been found that the correlation curves, pull-out force versus compressive strength, are not linear and depend on the stress state; besides, the statistical scattering of the calibration tests never exceeds 7-8% of the average values.
F. Latte Bovio; A. Brencich; G. Cassini; D. Pera; G. Riotto. A New Pull-Out Technique for In-Place Estimation of Concrete Compressive Strength. Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 2014, 2014, 1 -8.
AMA StyleF. Latte Bovio, A. Brencich, G. Cassini, D. Pera, G. Riotto. A New Pull-Out Technique for In-Place Estimation of Concrete Compressive Strength. Advances in Materials Science and Engineering. 2014; 2014 ():1-8.
Chicago/Turabian StyleF. Latte Bovio; A. Brencich; G. Cassini; D. Pera; G. Riotto. 2014. "A New Pull-Out Technique for In-Place Estimation of Concrete Compressive Strength." Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 2014, no. : 1-8.
As many masonry domes, the dome of the Basilica of S. Maria Assunta in Carignano in Genoa, designed by Galeazzo Alessi and built in the {XVIth} century, exhibits a relevant crack pattern, consisting mainly of meridian cracks, which puts forward the issue of its safety. Based on Static and Kinematic Theorems of Limit Analysis, a simplified procedure for the assessment of the dome, useful to understand the overall structural behavior, is discussed first looking to kinematically admissible mechanisms and to equilibrated stress fields; the obtained equilibrium states are compared to those from a non-linear {FEM} analysis showing a good agreement. Due to the high redundancy of the structure, this latter issue is dealt with reducing the unknowns to the internal forces in key sections of the dome so that the mechanical response of the dome can be easily described and discussed. The procedure allows the assessment of the dome outlining that: (i) the drum takes part in the collapse mechanism, so that kinematical analysis of the dome only may be not conservative; (ii) hoop ties in the drum, close to the base of the dome shells, plays a crucial stabilizing role; (iii) some parts of the structure, among which the ones prone to environmental degradation, may be crucial for the safety of the dome
Andrea Bacigalupo; Antonio Brencich; Luigi Gambarotta. A simplified assessment of the dome and drum of the Basilica of S. Maria Assunta in Carignano in Genoa. Engineering Structures 2013, 56, 749 -765.
AMA StyleAndrea Bacigalupo, Antonio Brencich, Luigi Gambarotta. A simplified assessment of the dome and drum of the Basilica of S. Maria Assunta in Carignano in Genoa. Engineering Structures. 2013; 56 ():749-765.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndrea Bacigalupo; Antonio Brencich; Luigi Gambarotta. 2013. "A simplified assessment of the dome and drum of the Basilica of S. Maria Assunta in Carignano in Genoa." Engineering Structures 56, no. : 749-765.
The vast majority of collapses cause only economic losses and are therefore unknown to either academics or engineers. Hence, the causes of the collapse that may be quite trivial are not discussed by the technical and academic community. Sometimes there is a connection between engineering malpractice, highlighted by forensic investigations, and some approaches of academic teaching; to this extent, case studies of collapsed structures could be a helpful tool if included in academic courses helping academic teaching to be properly oriented. In this paper, three case studies of engineering malpractice are discussed from this point of view. It showed that (a) misunderstandings on the basic concepts of structural mechanics may originate collapses; (b) oriented teaching could avoid some of these misunderstandings.
A. Brencich; M. Gnecco. Failure Case Studies in Structural Engineering Courses and Professional Practice. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering 2012, 37, 2113 -2126.
AMA StyleA. Brencich, M. Gnecco. Failure Case Studies in Structural Engineering Courses and Professional Practice. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering. 2012; 37 (8):2113-2126.
Chicago/Turabian StyleA. Brencich; M. Gnecco. 2012. "Failure Case Studies in Structural Engineering Courses and Professional Practice." Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering 37, no. 8: 2113-2126.
The case study discussed in this paper deals with the excavation of an excessively deep and long trench in a clay slope made at one edge of an urban connecting road. The subsequent failure of the top portion of the slope did not cause any human casualty, but did severe damage to a neighbouring retaining wall and to an adjacent building. The works aimed at the stabilization of the slope are suspected to have increased the damage to the foundation system of the building. The aim of this paper is to show that all these events could be foreseen just by relying on the basic concepts of mechanics and on proper engineering practice. The causes for the landslide, and subsequent problems, are to be found in an excessive confidence in soil cohesion and in the application of standard engineering procedures in a non-standard case.
Antonio Brencich. Deep trench, landslide and effects on the foundations of a residential building: A case study. Engineering Structures 2010, 32, 1821 -1829.
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich. Deep trench, landslide and effects on the foundations of a residential building: A case study. Engineering Structures. 2010; 32 (7):1821-1829.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich. 2010. "Deep trench, landslide and effects on the foundations of a residential building: A case study." Engineering Structures 32, no. 7: 1821-1829.
Arches, vaults and pillars are subject to eccentric loading; for this reason, their assessment needs the effect of strong stress gradients to be taken into account.. Based on a series of tests, this paper discusses the outcomes of non linear finite element modelling of the tests looking for a deeper insight into the micromechanics of brickwork collapse, i.e. into the phenomena activate inside the bricks, the mortar joint and at the brick/mortar interface at collapse. The Craft model is used as constitutive model for mortar and bricks, while the brick-mortar interface is represented by interface elements. The results of several FEM analyses, that were found to be reliable by comparison with the load-displacement and Moment-Curvature experimental response, confirm some conjectures already formulated, but not demonstrated, during the testing campaign
Jose Adam; Antonio Brencich; Tim G. Hughes; Anthony Jefferson. Micromodelling of eccentrically loaded brickwork: Study of masonry wallettes. Engineering Structures 2010, 32, 1244 -1251.
AMA StyleJose Adam, Antonio Brencich, Tim G. Hughes, Anthony Jefferson. Micromodelling of eccentrically loaded brickwork: Study of masonry wallettes. Engineering Structures. 2010; 32 (5):1244-1251.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJose Adam; Antonio Brencich; Tim G. Hughes; Anthony Jefferson. 2010. "Micromodelling of eccentrically loaded brickwork: Study of masonry wallettes." Engineering Structures 32, no. 5: 1244-1251.
Collapses that do not produce other than economic losses remain often unknown either to the public and to the community of engineers. The technical causes of any collapse deserve attention even if no scientific research is needed since they often show that design and control procedures and code provisions may fail in preventing errors both in the design and in the building phase of standard structural engineering. In this paper the collapse of an industrial steel shed, under a 10cm layer of fresh snow, is discussed showing that its collapse resulted from a chain of errors, in the design phase, during its assemblage and in the final inspection and control phas
Antonio Brencich. Collapse of an industrial steel shed: A case study for basic errors in computational structural engineering and control procedures. Engineering Failure Analysis 2010, 17, 213 -225.
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich. Collapse of an industrial steel shed: A case study for basic errors in computational structural engineering and control procedures. Engineering Failure Analysis. 2010; 17 (1):213-225.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich. 2010. "Collapse of an industrial steel shed: A case study for basic errors in computational structural engineering and control procedures." Engineering Failure Analysis 17, no. 1: 213-225.
Antonio Brencich; S. Lagomarsino; G. Riotto. Dynamic Identification of Reduced Scale Masonry Bridges. Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing 2009, 1 .
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich, S. Lagomarsino, G. Riotto. Dynamic Identification of Reduced Scale Masonry Bridges. Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing. 2009; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich; S. Lagomarsino; G. Riotto. 2009. "Dynamic Identification of Reduced Scale Masonry Bridges." Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing , no. : 1.
The compressive strength of masonry is a relevant mechanical parameter playing a central role in the assessment of masonry structures. In spite of a large number of experimental data and theoretical approaches, the failure of brickwork pillars and arches, its dependence on the properties of the constituents and on the loading conditions is not yet clear. In this paper, the compressive response of solid clay brick masonry is analyzed on the basis of a series of experimental tests performed on brickwork prisms made with different constituents, either old and new clay bricks arranged with cement and lime mortar, subjected to both concentric and eccentric loading with different load eccentricities. The tests have been displacement controlled in order to reproduce, in terms of both load–displacement and moment–curvature diagrams, the whole response curve, including the post-peak branch. According to the plane section hypothesis, one-dimensional constitutive models of brickwork, suitable for engineering application, are formulated to represent the non-linear behaviour of masonry. The comparison between theoretical predictions and experimental data, also derived from literature, represented in the axial force–bending moment failure domain, point at the adequacy of the models in estimating the load bearing capacity under eccentric loading, provided that the inelastic response is properly taken into account.
Antonio Brencich; Gianmarco de Felice. Brickwork under eccentric compression: Experimental results and macroscopic models. Construction and Building Materials 2009, 23, 1935 -1946.
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich, Gianmarco de Felice. Brickwork under eccentric compression: Experimental results and macroscopic models. Construction and Building Materials. 2009; 23 (5):1935-1946.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich; Gianmarco de Felice. 2009. "Brickwork under eccentric compression: Experimental results and macroscopic models." Construction and Building Materials 23, no. 5: 1935-1946.
The assessment and reclassification procedure of the Campasso Bridge, a 90-years old steel bridge typical of the beginning of the last century, is discussed in this paper. Steel is given a chemical and mechanical characterization on the basis of in situ and laboratory tests; a detailed survey of material degradation outlined the critical points of the structure and severe reductions of the resisting cross sections in several parts of the bridge. Load tests on the bridge, with accurate measurements of the displacements, allow validation of the theoretical model showing that, due to the dimensions of the nodes, the truss is better represented by a 3D frame rather than a 3D truss beam. The high level of redundancy of both the structure and the joints make the bridge safe according to the modern concepts of safety. The specific railway limits of the Serviceability Limit States mean that traffic must be limited to one rail only before re-opening the bridge to traffic. The skewness of the bridge (approx. 45 ∘ ) requires the torsional stiffness to be preserved by appropriate retrofitting works. Some considerations on fatigue limits show that the structure might be kept in service for not less than 20 years.
Antonio Brencich; Luigi Gambarotta. Assessment procedure and rehabilitation of riveted railway girders: The Campasso Bridge. Engineering Structures 2009, 31, 224 -239.
AMA StyleAntonio Brencich, Luigi Gambarotta. Assessment procedure and rehabilitation of riveted railway girders: The Campasso Bridge. Engineering Structures. 2009; 31 (1):224-239.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonio Brencich; Luigi Gambarotta. 2009. "Assessment procedure and rehabilitation of riveted railway girders: The Campasso Bridge." Engineering Structures 31, no. 1: 224-239.