ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the assessment of the compressive strength of historical masonries made of solid clay bricks and lime mortar, in order to reduce the need of destructive tests on existing buildings. Structural analyses, both static and seismic, play an important role for the preservation and rehabilitation of historical buildings. One of the difficulties that these disciplines have to face is to estimate masonry strength without damaging the monument. One of the preferred solutions is estimating the strength of old masonry from the strength of its components: bricks and mortar. The chapter aims to find which Eurocode 6-like equation is more suited to predict the strength of masonry realized with solid clay bricks and lime mortar. The database of experimental values has been realized by searching the literature for compression tests on specimens made of solid bricks and lime mortar. The power model employs the mean compressive strength of bricks and mortar as input variables.
