Author
MIRANDA, L. and GUEDES, J. and COSTA, C. and ALMEIDA, C.
Faculty of Engineering of University of Porto, Civil Engineering
COSTA, A.
University of Aveiro, Civil Engineering Dept.

Abstract
The Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques for the evaluation of the characteristics of stone masonry walls are being increasingly used and developed. In this work, the authors present the results of flat-jack tests applied to stone masonry walls made of large granite blocks, from typical walls of buildings in Porto, Portugal. A uniaxial laboratory compression test carried out on a single leaf stone masonry wall retrieved from one of these constructions, allowed comparisons of the results and led tear understanding of the differences. Because of the characteristics of the walls, in particular the dimension of the stones, the application of the flat-jack technique involved difficulties and uncertainties that are described and discussed in this work. Finally, a simplified 2D numerical simulation using linear and non-linear numerical models raised some questions about the representativeness of the flat-jack test.

Key words
Masonry Walls, Young´s modulus, NDT, Flat-Jack