Proprietà meccaniche di laterizi tradizionali

In the last years several bricks taken from traditional buildings of central Italy were tested in the Laboratory of the Dipartimento di Costruzioni of the University of Florence; the experimental technique has been defined in order to obtain he largest number and the more reliable information by the available sample. The collected data were organized as to form a simple data base made of more than 300 specimens taken from about 100 bricks. All of them share the geographical area of origin and the production techniques. A second sample was subjected to the same analysis, made of bricks produced by a well known brick factory at the aim of reproducing aesthetic and mechanical properties of ancient bricks, so to be apt to restoration works. Some useful observations can be made by analysing test results and by comparing the data samples, in order to improve static analysis of brickwork traditional masonry structures and to assess, in restoration works, the compatibility of new production materials in substitution of original ones.