Seismic vulnerability and failure modes simulation of ancient masonry towers by validated virtual finite element models

Seismic protection of ancient masonry towers is a topic of great concernamong the scientific community. A methodology for the seismic vulnerability assessment of all types of towers and slender unreinforced masonry structures (e.g., light houses and minarets) is presented. The approach is developed...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Preciado, Adolfo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:México
Institución:Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente
Repositorio:Repositorio Institucional del ITESO
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:rei.iteso.mx:11117/3471
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11117/3471
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Strong Earthquakes
Historical Towers
Old Masonry
Failure Mechanisms
Damage Assessment
Seismic Vulnerability
Validated Virtual Models
Nonlinear Finite Element Method
Descripción
Sumario:Seismic protection of ancient masonry towers is a topic of great concernamong the scientific community. A methodology for the seismic vulnerability assessment of all types of towers and slender unreinforced masonry structures (e.g., light houses and minarets) is presented. The approach is developed by four validated 3D FEM models representative of European towers. The models are subjected to linear elastic investigations to establish load carrying capacity and dynamic properties for validation against similar towers. Seismic simulations are developed through intensive nonlinear static pushover analyses. From the assessments, the failure modes and overall seismic response of the towers are obtained. Low tensile strength of masonry and large openings at belfries have significant influence on the seismic behavior, resulting in a quasi-brittle failure. All the towers presented an imminent high vulnerability to seismic actions. The fewinvestigations reported in literature on the seismic behavior of towers are focused on in-plane behavior, disregarding out-of-plane behavior and toe crushing, both aspects are investigated in this paper. The more flexible towers are close to present toe crushing in both planes. The failure mechanisms are validated with reported post-earthquake observations on real damaged towers.