Assessment of Stone Masonry Walls With Deterioration at Their Base Using Non-Linear Finite Element Analyses

COMPDYN 2015
5th ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics

and Earthquake Engineering
Crete Island, Greece, 25-27 May 2015
ASSESSMENT OF STONE MASONRY WALLS

WITH DETERIORATION AT THEIR BASE
USING NON-LINEAR FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSES
Georgios Papadopoulos, Dimos C. Charmpis and Rogiros Illampas

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
INTRODUCTION
• Innovative modular masonry system currently under development
• Effect of (a) brick geometry and (b) core insulation on the thermal, environmental
and structural performance hereby examined
• Thermal behaviour examined through numerical heat flux analysis
• Embodied energy computed using data from the literature
• Load resistance evaluated via non-linear Finite Element analysis
Computational Evaluation of the Thermal, Environmental and Structural Performance of an Innovative Masonry System
Rogiros Illampas, Andreas Kyriakidis, Aimilios Michael
SBE16, 17-19 October 2016
I N N O VAT I V E M A S O N RY S Y S T E M
• Modular brick units which feature:
(a) main body that enables interlocking among the elements
(b) outer leaf which can be adjusted at different angles and tilts.
I N N O VAT I V E M A S O N RY S Y S T E M
• Different modular assemblies can be adopted to enhance:
(a) thermal insulation (buffer zone)
(b) ventilation (building ventilation / stack effect)
(c) shading (suitable for different orientations)
(d) accommodate technical systems
BRICK UNIT
• Currently emphasis is given on the development of the brick unit’s main body
• Design of self-compacting flowable mixture consisting of hydrated lime binder

and waste material (industrial by-products, quarry fines, recycled aggregates)
• Brick’s main body consists of

• Two interconnected longitudinal load-bearing sections
• Core gap that can remain void or may be filled with insulating material
(i.e. polyurethane, polystyrene, rock wool, cork)
BRICK UNIT
• External dimensions (height x length x width) 40 x 40 x 25 (cm)
• Two alternative geometrical configurations considered

Type A: Load-bearing sections 6 cm wide / Core gap 13 cm wide
Type B: Load-bearing sections 8 cm wide / Core gap 9 cm wide
ASSESSMENT OF THERMAL PERFORMANCE
• 2D numerical models developed in Matlab R2014a
• Plan-sections of the two geometrical configurations under study
• Discretizion into 3-noded triangular elements with average side length 0.03 m
Type A Adiabatic Type B
EXTERIOR INTERIOR
Rse = 0.04 m2K/W Rsi = 0.13 m2K/W
Tae = 4 °C Tai = 22 °C
Adiabatic
• Values of conductive coefficients used in the analyses for the estimation of the
masonry system’s U-value
Brick unit’s component Material Conductive coefficient - λ(W/mK)

Load-bearing sections Lime-based composite 0.650
Polyurethane 0.025
Polystyrene 0.030
Infill insulation material
Rock Wool 0.035
Cork 0.040
• Analysis procedure validated against EN 1745 and EN ISO 6946 reference cases
• Simulation of heat flux through brick units
• Webs connecting the two load-bearing sections tend to act as thermal bridges
• Significant heat losses that affect the systems’ thermal characteristics
• The use of thermal breaks (e.g. polyamide) and/or the re-design of the brick
unit to accommodate a continuous insulation layer are considered
b W/K
Type B brick unit with cork

insulation infill
• U-values for the reference cases with no insulation infill are 1.86 and 1.71 W/m 2K
• U-values for core insulated units range from 0.51 to 0.71 W/m 2K
• Local building code requirements are satisfied (U < 0.72 W/m 2K)
• Thermal performance depends mainly on the thickness of the insulating

component, rather than on the type of insulating material used
b
A S S E S S M E N T O F E N V I R O N M E N TA L I M PA C T
• Brick units’ total embodied energy adopted as environmental impact indicator
• Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE) database of the University of Bath used
• Embodied energy (eE,tot) computed as a function of the energy demanded for the
production and handling of the constituent components (lime-based composite
used in the load-bearing sections and infill insulation material)
eE ,tot 
 me i E ,i
A
mi = mass of each material (= density x volume)
eE,i = embodied energy of each material (MJ/kg)
A = surface area of the brick unit (= 0.4 x 0.4 m2)
• Brick fabrication processes not accounted for at this stage
• Values of embodied energy and density used in the assessment of the masonry
system’s environmental impact
Embodied Energy Density

Brick unit’s component Material
eE,i (MJ/kg) ρi (kg/m3)
Load-bearing sections Lime-based composite 1.4 1650
Polyurethane 72.0 30
Polystyrene 88.0 30
Infill insulation material
Rock Wool 16.8 140
Cork 4.0 110
• Embodied energy of the lime-based constituent material was computed

assuming a binder:aggregate ratio 1:3 w/w
• Type A: eE,tot = 314 - 615 MJ/m2

Depends greatly on the use of insulation infill
• Type B: eE,tot = 396 - 603 MJ/m2
• Comparison with non-insulated practicing walling systems:

(a) Fired clay bricks - eE,tot = 530 MJ/m2
Dimensions: 30 x 10 x 20 (cm), Unit weight: 5.3 kg, Embodied energy: 3 MJ/kg
(b) Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks - eE,tot = 438 MJ/m2
Dimensions: 60 x 25 x 25 (cm), Unit weight: 18.8 kg, Embodied energy: 3.5 MJ/kg
• Environmental footprint of proposed system either marginally higher or

significantly lower than that of clay brick masonry
• Installation of polyurethane, polystyrene and rock wool results to embodied

energies higher than AAC block construction
• Use of cork insulation improves thermal performance without increasing

environmental impact
ASSESSMENT OF STRUCTURAL RESPONSE
• 3D numerical models of walls (height = width = 2.80 m) constructed of Type A

and Type B bricks developed in Abaqus/CAE
• Non-linear static analyses to evaluate in- and out-of-plane lateral resistance
• Mirco-modelling approach adopted

- Bricks: Discretely represented using 8-noded hexahedral elements
- Joints: Discontinuous zero-thickness friction-cohesion interface elements
Brick
Interface
element (joint)
Type A Type B
• Parameters used for simulating the brick units

Property Value
Mass density – ρ (kg/m3) 1650
Young’s modulus – E (MPa) 1300
Poisson’s ratio – v 0.25
Compressive strength - fc(MPa) 4.5
Tensile strength – ft (MPa) 0.45
Tensile fracture energy – Gf (N/m) 40
• Parameters used for simulating the masonry joints

Property Value
Normal stiffness – Knn (N/m3) 4.0 e10
Shear stiffness – Kss, Ktt (N/m3) 1.6 e10
Tensile strength – tnn (MPa) 0.1
Cohesion – tss, ttt (MPa) 0.2
Mode I fracture energy – Gnn (N/m) 10
Mode II fracture energy – Gss, Gtt (N/m) 20
Friction coefficient – μ 0.4
• Walls assumed to be based on fixed foundation
• Translational degrees of freedom at the nodes of walls’ bases were constrained
• Numerical analyses completed in two successive steps using a dynamic

solution method with implicit time integration:
Step 1 - Self-weight applied as a gravitational load
Step 2 - Mass-proportional lateral forces imposed at all nodes
• Predicted damage mode

• Failure of the mortar joints,
• masonry units did not sustain any compressive or tensile damage.
• In-plane loading Shear failure and subsequent sliding along the bed joint at the
base of the wall.
• Out-of-plane loading
• tensile failure of the bed joint at the base and rocking motion of the upper
cracked section.
b
• Type B units allow for larger bedding planes thus
enabling the masonry to sustain higher loads
• In-plane strength ~130% of walls’ self-weight

Type A: 23 kN
Type B: 29 kN
• Out-of-plane strength 10-25% of walls’ self-weight

Type A: 1.8 kN
Type B: 5.4 kN
b
• Low ultimate drifts (< 0.15%) attributed to:
(a) Absence of vertical resisting loads at the top
of the walls
(b) lack of adequate perimeter restrains
(i.e. connection to orthogonal walls and/or
reinforced concrete confining members)
CONCLUSION
• Proposed construction system fulfills current building code requirements for

energy efficiency, provided that thermal insulation is installed.
• Modular assembly system has rather limited environmental footprint since the
brick units used for its construction will be composed of a lime-based mixture
that has relatively low embodied energy.
• Brick units can have pre-installed insulation filling which reduces the need for
additional site construction works.
• The geometric configuration of the brick unit can have a considerable effect on
the in- and out-of-plane strength of the masonry.
ONGOING WORK AND FUTURE RESEARCH AIMS
• Laboratory production and characterization of the constituent mixture
COMPDYN 2015
5th ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics
and Earthquake Engineering
Crete Island, Greece, 25-27 May 2015
Thank you for your attention

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COMPDYN 2015

5th ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics

ASSESSMENT OF STONE MASONRY WALLS

Georgios Papadopoulos, Dimos C. Charmpis and Rogiros Illampas

• Thermal behaviour examined through numerical heat flux analysis

• Embodied energy computed using data from the literature

• Load resistance evaluated via non-linear Finite Element analysis

• Design of self-compacting flowable mixture consisting of hydrated lime binder

• Brick’s main body consists of

• Two alternative geometrical configurations considered

• 2D numerical models developed in Matlab R2014a

• Plan-sections of the two geometrical configurations under study

Type A Adiabatic Type B

Brick unit’s component Material Conductive coefficient - λ(W/mK)

• Simulation of heat flux through brick units

• Significant heat losses that affect the systems’ thermal characteristics

Type B brick unit with cork

• Thermal performance depends mainly on the thickness of the insulating

• Brick units’ total embodied energy adopted as environmental impact indicator

• Brick fabrication processes not accounted for at this stage

Embodied Energy Density

• Embodied energy of the lime-based constituent material was computed

• Type A: eE,tot = 314 - 615 MJ/m2

• Comparison with non-insulated practicing walling systems:

• Environmental footprint of proposed system either marginally higher or

• Installation of polyurethane, polystyrene and rock wool results to embodied

• Use of cork insulation improves thermal performance without increasing

• 3D numerical models of walls (height = width = 2.80 m) constructed of Type A

• Non-linear static analyses to evaluate in- and out-of-plane lateral resistance

• Mirco-modelling approach adopted

• Parameters used for simulating the brick units

• Parameters used for simulating the masonry joints

• Walls assumed to be based on fixed foundation

• Translational degrees of freedom at the nodes of walls’ bases were constrained

• Numerical analyses completed in two successive steps using a dynamic

• Predicted damage mode

• In-plane strength ~130% of walls’ self-weight

• Out-of-plane strength 10-25% of walls’ self-weight

• Proposed construction system fulfills current building code requirements for

• Laboratory production and characterization of the constituent mixture

Thank you for your attention

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