Experimental investigation of masonry building damage caused by surface tension cracks on slow-moving landslides

Slow-moving landslides cause significant economic losses associated with damage to facilities and interruption of human activity in mountainous regions and along river valleys. Physical vulnerability of structures exposed to slow-moving landslides is a required input for informed risk mitigation decision-making. However, the quantification of this vulnerability is still a major challenge. Few studies have been completed on this topic due to the limited historical data of the building damage associated with the comprehensive descriptions of the landslide mechanism. This research presents an experimental approach to investigating the mechanism of damage development and evolution on masonry buildings exposed to ground tension cracks associated with slow-moving landslides. A one-tenth scale model of a masonry building was designed and tested on the newly developed test table. The details of the testing setup are presented in this paper. The scaled model was constructed using sintered clay brick masonry and an unreinforced concrete foundation. An artificial tension crack was opened under the scaled model through the application of loading steps, in the direction parallel to the model foundation. The internal strains and associated forces developed on the scale model walls and foundation were measured by strain gauges. It was observed that the damage ranged from cracking to partial out-of-plane failure of the walls and the foundation. The damage level increased with the propagation of the tension crack on the test table. The final observation results were compared and validated against the field observations of damaged buildings on slow-moving landslides in TGR area in China. The experimental loading device simulated building damage caused by ground horizontal displacements and can bridge the gap in understanding the effects of slow-moving landslides on structures. It provided a new way to analyze the vulnerability of masonry structure under horizontal movement patterns of slow-moving landslides.