A HEURISTIC METHOD FOR MODELLING THE SLIDING RESISTANCE OF MASONRY ASSEMBLAGES OF INTERLOCKING BLOCKS

There is a wealth of recent literature dealing with the significant role played by friction in the seismic response of conventional masonry structures. Within this framework, a crafty improvement of such structures is represented by interlocking masonry structures made by interlocking blocks that enhance the sliding resistance at block interfaces. In fact, these are rigid block units which, on their faces, have a number of locks keeping the blocks together and preventing sliding. Such typologies of blocks can increase the structural functionality of an assemblage during and after the construction. The interlocking interface may have different sliding resistances in different directions, depending on the orientation and the mechanical and geometrical features of the locks. This paper is aimed at finding the sliding resistance of interlocking interfaces with non-isotropic sliding properties. The constraint is a function of geometric and mechanical properties of such interfaces, allowing the use of the convex contact formulation method to analyse the structural behaviour of masonry assemblages composed of interlocking blocks.