Experimental Measurements of Prestressed Masonry with using Sliding Joint

Contribution deals with experimental measurements of deformations in the place exposed to local load caused by additional pre-stressing. The measurements are made at the masonry corner built in the laboratory equipment. The laboratory equipment was designed at Faculty of Civil Engineering VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava for measurement tri-axial stress-strain conditions in masonry. In this masonry corner two pre-stressing bars are placed. These bars are in different height and are anchored to the anchor plates, which transfer pre-stressing forces to the masonry. The specimen for laboratory testing is performed in the proportion to the reality of 1:1. In the bottom part masonry is inserted asphalt strip. It operates in the masonry like a sliding joint and reduces the shear stress at interface between concrete and masonry structures. The results are compared with the results of masonry without the use of sliding joints, including comment on the effect of sliding joints on the pre-stressing masonry structures.