Constitutive modelling of tuff masonry in direct shear

Shear behaviour of masonry has been deeply investigated for a lot of masonry types. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of knowledge on the shear response of tuff masonry, which is widely spread in the existing building inventory in seismic areas like as Italy, Turkey, and Japan. To characterize the non-linear behaviour of the unit–mortar interface within tuff masonry, a series of direct shear tests were carried out.In this paper, both experimental results and empirical formulae are presented. Classical shear strength and deformation parameters along with shearing fracture energy and dilatancy were characterized. A shear response surface including both stress–strain diagrams and the frictional strength model is proposed.

Research highlights
► Shear behaviour of the unit–mortar interface within tuff masonry was investigated.
► Classical strength and deformation parameters, fracture energy, and dilatancy were characterized.
► A shear response surface including constitutive law and failure model is proposed.