Influence of aspect ratio and pre-compression on force capacity of unreinforced masonry walls in out-of-plane two-way bending

Out-of-plane (OOP) failure of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls in two-way bending was widely observed after natural hazards such as earthquakes. Of various crucial factors influencing the force capacity of URM walls in OOP two-way bending (force capacity being defined as the wall peak force in terms of pressure), the pre-compression and...

Discrete lattice fracture modelling of hydrated cement paste under uniaxial compression at micro-scale

A combination of laboratory experiments and numerical simulations at multiple length scales can provide in-depth understanding of fracture behaviour of hydrated cement paste (HCP). To that end, the current work presents a numerical study on compressive failure of hydrated cement paste (HCP) at the micro-scale. Virtual specimens consisting of...

Combined experimental and numerical study of uniaxial compression failure of hardened cement paste at micrometre length scale

The aim of this work is to investigate the mechanical performance of hardened cement paste (HCP) under compression at the micrometre length scale. In order to achieve this, both experimental and numerical approaches were applied. In the experimental part, micrometre sized HCP specimens were fabricated and subjected to uniaxial compression by...