Characterization of historical Masonry Mortar from sites damaged during the Central Italy 2016-2017 Seismic Sequence: the case study of Arquata del Tronto

Mortar quality is a fundamental parameter to take into account when studying the structural behavior of masonry, especially under seismic actions. Separation between the leaves of rubble masonry can occur, inducing the partial or total collapse of the construction. A good quality mortar is essential to delay/prevent the separation of leaves, but often, especially in ancient building with a cultural value, mortars have low binder capabilities.The paper presents an experimental investigation on mortar specimens taken from buildings of a little municipality in Marche region, Arquata del Tronto, heavily damaged by recent earthquakes in Central Italy (2016-2017). Both diagnostic techniques as X-Ray diffraction, Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy and calcimetry, and mechanical test as compression tests were carried out in order to correlate the obtained values with the performance of the original masonry