MINT: Masonry in-situ testing and material identification

英国拥有欧洲最古老的建筑群之一。在英格兰，大约四分之一的建筑是实心砖砌建筑。每年都有成千上万这样的建筑由于季节性和挖掘引起的地面运动而遭受结构破坏。为了理解和管理地面运动对这些历史资产的影响，对其材料的深入了解是必要的。表征砖砌体材料机械性能的标准技术需要大量的抽样和破坏性测试。因此，这些技术很少应用于现有建筑。材料的原位测试和表征是一种很有前途的替代方法。然而，在目前的形式下，标准的原位测试只能提供有限的材料特性信息。MINT项目旨在开发一种小破坏的原位测试方法，以识别历史砖砌体材料的关键宏观变形能力和强度参数。该方法将非常规的平面千斤顶测试与明确的数字图像相关应变测量和快速虚拟场方法算法相结合，以克服标准材料表征技术的局限性。它将为我们收集砖砌体材料的详细机械信息的能力带来一个台阶的变化，并释放数值模拟的潜力，以可靠地评估结构响应。预计这种新功能还将使改造和维修方面的决策更加明智。从长远来看，薄荷厂的发展将有助于提高建造业的生产力，并改善公众的福利。

The UK has one of the oldest building stocks in Europe. In England, around a quarter of this stock is of solid brickwork construction. Every year, thousands of such buildings experience structural distress due to seasonal and excavation-induced ground movements. To understand and manage the impact of ground movements on these historic assets, an in-depth knowledge of their materials is necessary. Standard techniques for characterising the mechanical properties of brick masonry materials require extensive sampling and destructive testing. As a result, these techniques are rarely applied to existing buildings. In-situ testing and characterisation of materials is a promising alternative. However, in their current form, standard in-situ tests provide limited information on material properties. The MINT project aims to develop a minor-destructive in-situ testing method to identify the key macro-scale deformability and strength parameters of historic brick masonry materials. This method will combine unconventional flat jack testing with unambiguous Digital Image Correlation strain measurements and rapid Virtual Fields Method algorithms to overcome the limitations of standard material characterisation techniques. It will deliver a step change in our ability to collect detailed mechanical information on brick masonry materials and unlock the potential of numerical simulations to reliably assess structural response. It is envisioned that this new capability will also enable more informed decisions on retrofit and repair. In the longer term, the developments from MINT will contribute to improve productivity in the construction sector, and the welfare of the general public.