Seismic vulnerability enhancement of medieval and masonry bell towers externally prestressed with unbonded smart tendons

Medieval and masonry bell towers are highly vulnerable to suffer strong earthquake damage due to the mechanical and physical characteristics of masonry and other important factors. An approach for the seismic vulnerability reduction of masonry towers with external prestressing is proposed. The devic...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Preciado, Adolfo, Sperbeck, Silvio T., Ramírez-Gaytán, Alejandro
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:México
Institución:Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente
Repositorio:Repositorio Institucional del ITESO
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:rei.iteso.mx:11117/3562
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11117/3562
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Earthquakes
Towers
Failures
Smart materials
Historical Masonry
Energy Dissipation
External Prestressing
Unbonded Tendons
Smart Materials
Descripción
Sumario:Medieval and masonry bell towers are highly vulnerable to suffer strong earthquake damage due to the mechanical and physical characteristics of masonry and other important factors. An approach for the seismic vulnerability reduction of masonry towers with external prestressing is proposed. The devices are vertically and externally located in order to be removable when needed. The characteristic flexural failure mode of medieval towers and the shear mechanism of bell towers are simulated. Both failure modes are in agreement with earthquake damage in similar towers. Medium prestressing level enhances force capacity of towers failing by bending without reducing ductility. High prestressing level slightly reduces the displacement capability of towers failing ductile. In case of belfry failure, both prestressing levels permit to increase displacement but lower force than towers failing by bending. The proposed medium prestressing level is the optimal for masonry towers and other slender structures failing by bending and shear.