Seismic vulnerability assessment of historical masonry building under near-field earthquake

Abstract

The historic masonry buildings, as known, represent the living testimony of a building heritage characterized by a high artistic and architectural value. However, this class of constructions are the weakest part of an urban system, since, due to structural weaknesses, they are implicitly deficient in relation to seismic actions especially in near-field conditions in which the effects of the ground motion vertical component play an important role concerning the seismic response of the engineering structures. Despite this, even the seismic regulations are lacking in providing substantial indications regarding the treatment of the vertical component of the ground movement, limiting themselves only to the effects of the horizontal ones. The doctoral thesis aims to evaluate the effects of the ground motion vertical component on the seismic vulnerability of a historic masonry building located in the Banat Seismic Region (BSR). In particular, the Municipality of Banloc was hit by a significant seismic sequence in 1991 characterized by impulsive vertical accelerations that altered the integrity of the masonry structures in the epicentre and surrounding villages. In this regard, a non-linear dynamic analysis was performed to identify the seismic response of the case study structure considering two distinct scenarios for contextualizing the seismic effects induced by both, vertical and horizontal components, respectively. The proposed methodology provides an exhaustive treatment regarding the estimation of the main demand parameters that identify the seismic behaviour of the examined building in the case of impulsive seismic phenomenon. Starting from the studies conducted in Europe, the doctoral thesis makes important contributions about the importance of taking into account the vertical seismic component in the study of global seismic vulnerability. In conclusion, the research lays the foundations for a broader awareness of the proposed topic by providing technical information useful for the of historic masonry buildings located in other cities of the Banat Region.