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Strain Monitoring and Crack Detection in Masonry Walls under In-Plane Shear Loading Using Smart Bricks: First Results

Andrea Meoni1, Antonella D'Alessandro1, Felice Saviano2

  • 1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, Italy.

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Summary

Smart bricks offer continuous structural health monitoring for masonry buildings, enabling early crack detection and preventing collapse. This study validates their strain-sensing effectiveness in real-scale shear tests.

Keywords:
crack detectiondiagonal compression testsmasonry structuresself-sensing structural materialsshear-induced damagesmart brickssmart materialsstrain measurementsstructural health monitoring

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Area of Science:

  • Civil Engineering
  • Materials Science
  • Structural Health Monitoring

Background:

  • Continuous monitoring of in-service buildings aids early detection of structural issues like cracks.
  • Existing masonry constructions are prone to brittle failures, necessitating effective Structural Health Monitoring (SHM).
  • Piezoresistive smart bricks are a novel sensing technology for SHM in masonry.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the strain-sensitivity of standard-dimension smart bricks within masonry walls under shear loading.
  • To validate the performance of smart bricks for structural health monitoring in real-scale masonry.

Main Methods:

  • Real-scale masonry walls instrumented with smart bricks and displacement sensors were subjected to diagonal compression.
  • Numerical simulations were performed to interpret experimental data and validate smart brick performance.

Main Results:

  • Smart bricks effectively monitored strain in masonry walls under shear loading.
  • Experimental results from smart bricks showed comparable strain values to numerical models (approx. 10⁻⁴) at peak load.
  • Similar strain trends were observed between smart bricks and numerical simulations.

Conclusions:

  • The study demonstrates the effectiveness of smart bricks for strain monitoring in masonry structures.
  • Smart bricks show significant potential for early crack detection and structural health assessment in buildings.
  • This technology contributes to enhanced safety and maintenance strategies for masonry constructions.