On the modeling of the reinforcement rings in masonry buildings: An example

Repair operations on many masonry buildings require the insertion into the structure of metallic reinforcement parts, such as rods or plates. The ability to appropriately model the contact interaction between masonry and reinforcement is very important in numerical simulations. Such interaction can be taken into account by the introduction of mutual constraints, or tying relations, among the displacements of nodes facing each other at the interface. In this paper, after a brief outline of the numerical technique, the case of an old chimney with a reinforcement ring in analysed and the results presented.