Mechanical and Mineralogical Characterization of Mortar in Masonry Buildings Damaged by the 20-29th May Earthquake in Emilia

The aim of the work is to characterize mechanical and chemical properties of the mortar, and thus the masonry, of historical buildings damaged by the Emilia May 20-29th 2012 earthquakes. The attention was focused on historical strategic buildings, located in Modena district. The experimental campaign here reported was carried out for each building through four steps: first, a mechanical characterization of masonry was performed in situ using non-destructive and semi-destructive methods (step 1); then, some materials were collected in order to obtain standard specimens of mortar joint and brick (step 2). In laboratory, those samples were properly prepared for testing (step 3) with compression and flexural test setups; finally, a limited number of those mortar samples were tested in order to obtain their chemical properties (step 4). The in-situ and laboratory test results were separately elaborated for mortar and brick, to characterize the single masonry components. The results were then used to estimate the characteristic masonry parameters. Criteria to obtain the masonry behavior were reviewed in order to give the average masonry parameters. The characteristic and average values of compression strength were compared with ranges provided in the codes for the same masonry typology.