International Masonry Society 2018 Student Award

With his PhD thesis “Micro-mechanical finite element modeling for in-plane behavior of historical masonry”, Shenghan Zhang won the 2019 Student Award of the International Masonry Society. As part of this work, Shenghan developed a micro-structure generator for stone masonry, which can generate a large range of patterns. This tool permits to change the micro-structure systematically and therefore to investigate which geometrical characteristics influence the mechanical response most. For this part of research, he borrowed concepts from computer graphics as well as geology for modelling the erosion process of stones. In addition, Shenghan implemented in the open-source program “Akantu” by Prof. Jean-François Molinari (LSMS, EPFL) the components that were necessary for the simulation of fracture of stone masonry. These were in particular a new contact algorithm and a new insertion criterion for extrinsic cohesive elements. As friction is the most important force transfer mechanism in masonry, these two contributions were key to represent the mechanical behaviour of masonry correctly. The micro-structure generator and the modelling together permit to investigate systematically several aspects of stone masonry response that could not be investigated systematically before, such as, for example, the effect of the distribution of material parameters in the panel or the effect of the micro-structure on the mechanical response. Both aspects are difficult or even impossible to control and alter systematically in physical experiments. Shenghan’s research provides therefore a unique tool for the simulation of masonry and allow modelling stone masonry behaviour with an unprecedented level of detail. For his post-doctoral studies, Shenghan recently won one of the highly competitive Early Postdoc.Mobility fellowships from Swiss National Science Foundation, which will allow him working with Prof. Matthew DeJong at UC Berkeley.