Numerical Modeling of Single Tube-Jack and Flat-Jack Tests in an Unreinforced Masonry Wall with a Regular Typology

Development of new non-destructive testing techniques and continued critical analysis of existing techniques is important to ensuring that the conditions of historical masonry structures are diagnosed accurately. This is the goal of a research project currently being carried out by the authors at the University of Minho, Guimaraes, Portugal. In previous editions of the SAHC conferences tube-jack testing has been introduced as a non-destructive testing technique that has the potential to be used as an alternative to traditional flat-jack testing for determining the state of stress in and deformability characteristics of unreinforced masonry. In this paper, the results of numerical modeling single tube-jack tests and flat-jack tests in a masonry wall with a regular typology are presented. The DIANA finite element modeling program was used to model these tests in a masonry wall based on a laboratory test wall that was constructed and tested in another phase of the research program. The modeling results lead to several important conclusions and new questions to be answered through future research. The modeling of these tests revealed that the discrete line of tube-jacks functions as an equivalent flat-jack in pressurizing the masonry, as originally hypothesized, confirming the viability of the method.