Homogenization strategies and computational analyses for masonry structures via micro-mechanical approach

Masonry is a heterogeneous medium which shows an anisotropic and inhomogeneous nature. In particular, the inhomogeneity is due to its biphasic composition and, consequently, to the different mechanical properties of its constituents, mortar and natural or artificial blocks. The anisotropy is, instead, due to the different masonry patterns since the mechanical response is affected by the geometrical arrangement of the constituents. The unquestionable importance of a lot of real masonry estate requires researcher's particular attention for this kind of structures. Therefore, in order to design an efficient response for repairing existing masonry structures, a large number of theoretical studies, experimental laboratory activities and computational procedures have been proposed in scientific literature. The main object of the present work is, in a first moment, to furnish an overall description of the different homogenization approaches utilized in literature for modelling masonry structures in linear-elastic field. Then, it will be given a number of new possible proposals for theoretical models which yield global constitutive relationships. Later, computational analyses are employed in order to compare the analytical results obtained from the proposed homogenization techniques and the literature data.