Structurally informed design of interlocking block assemblages using limit analysis

This paper presents a computational framework to design assemblages of interlocking blocks and to analyze their structural feasibility. The core of this framework is an extension of limit analysis to corrugated interfaces with orthotropic sliding behavior. Such block interfaces are made of a number of locks (i.e. projections on the corrugated faces, locking the blocks together) with rectangular cross section. The sliding resistance at the block interfaces is governed by the shear resistance of the locks and Coulomb’s friction law, normal to and along the locks, respectively. This resistance is assumed as a function of different interface geometric parameters and the stress state on an interface is represented by using a number of contact points distributed over the lock centerlines. The abstraction model has been validated through the comparison of the torsion–shear behavior of an interface obtained by the proposed model and experimental tests reported in the literature. The extended limit analysis has been implemented to model single-layer shells. When the model is infeasible, the geometry of the overall shell, blocks, and interlocking interfaces can be adjusted by the designer to make the model structurally feasible. The performance of the framework is presented through several examples, which demonstrate the relationships between the geometry of the interlocking interfaces and the stability of the assemblages.