Unreinforced Masonry (URM) structures are vulnerable to earthquakes and these buildings are common in the heritage neighborhoods of Old Montreal and Old Quebec. To preserve this heritage, it is important to be able to predict correctly the structural performance of URM buildings in order to improve damage estimation in the event of earthquakes and help preventing possible losses.
This project is aimed at the experimental characterization of the traditional multi-leaf stone masonry, made of two walls separated by small locking stones and rubbles filled with mortar. Experimental characterization makes it possible to determine the mechanical properties of materials and the resistance of URM walls and to develop more accurate models for the calculation of the structural capacity of URM stone buildings. The studied URM consists of a guillotined St-Marc limestone and a cement-lime mortar (1: 2: 6) that reproduces the mechanical properties of traditional lime mortars.
The experimental program has two phases: the first phase evaluates the compressive strength of the mortar, the stone and URM assembly. Average compressive strengths of 5.3 ± 0.1 MPa, 77.6 ± 7.7 MPa and 57.7 ± 6.6 MPa were obtained respectively from the undertaken program. The shear strength of the mortar joint is also evaluated in this phase. An average initial cohesion of 1.05 MPa and an average coefficient of friction of 0.39 MPa were obtained for this purpose. The second phase consists in testing 890 mm x 940 mm multi-leaf walls built in the laboratory. Two specimens are tested under cyclic loading to determine the load-displacement relationship and diagonal tensile tests complete the experimental characterization.
This characterization provides a better understanding of the stone URM of Eastern Canada and contributes to improve the evaluation of the structural capacity of buildings built with this material. It will also help define better rehabilitation and reinforcement solutions for these structures, generally not expected to withstand the seismic loads prescribed by the current National Building Code of Canada (NBCC).
| Date | 11 Sept 2018 |
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| Original language | French |
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| Awarding Institution | - École de technologie supérieure
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| Supervisor | Marie-José Nollet (Supervisor) & Lotfi Guizani (Co-supervisor) |
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Boldireff, É. (Author),
Nollet (Supervisor) &
Guizani (Co-supervisor),
11 Sept 2018Student thesis: Master's thesis › Master in Engineering: Construction Engineering