A mathematical description of macroscopic behaviour of brick masonry

A mathematical formulation is presented for the description of the average mechanical properties of structural masonry. The conceptual approach is based on the framework recently outlined by Pietruszczak (1991). An element of structural masonry is regarded as a composite medium consisting of the brick matrix intercepted by the sets of head and bed joints. The former are considered as aligned, uniformly dispersed weak inclusions, whereas the latter represent continuous planes of weakness. A general three-dimensional formulation is provided and is subsequently applied to estimate the average macroscopic properties in the elastic range and to investigate the conditions at failure. An extensive numerical study is performed.