Mesoscale Modeling of a Masonry Building Subjected to Earthquake Loading
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 1
Abstract
Masonry structures constitute an important part of the built environment and architectural heritage in seismic areas. A large number of these old structures showed inadequate performance and suffered substantial damage under past earthquakes. Realistic numerical models are required for accurate response predictions and for addressing the implementation of effective strengthening solutions. A comprehensive mesoscale modeling strategy explicitly allowing for masonry bond is presented in this paper. It is based on advanced nonlinear material models for interface elements simulating cracks in mortar joints and brick/block units under cyclic loading. Moreover, domain decomposition and mesh tying techniques are used to enhance computational efficiency in detailed nonlinear simulations. The potential of this approach is shown with reference to a case study of a full-scale unreinforced masonry building previously tested in laboratory under pseudodynamic loading. The results obtained confirm that the proposed modeling strategy for brick/block-masonry structures leads to accurate representations of the seismic response of three-dimensional (3D) building structures, both at the local and global levels. The numerical-experimental comparisons show that this detailed modeling approach enables remarkably accurate predictions of the actual dynamic characteristics, along with the main resisting mechanisms and crack patterns.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code used during the study were provided by a third party. Experimental data: Direct requests for these materials may be made to the provider as indicated in the Acknowledgements.
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are proprietary or confidential in nature and may only be provided with restrictions. ADAPTIC code: Limited access may be provided upon request to the last author. Numerical models can be provided by contacting the first author.
Acknowledgments
The first author has been supported by the European Commission through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowship Multi-level Model Calibration for the Assessment of Historical Masonry Structures (MultiCAMS), Project No. 744400. Dr. Armelle Anthoine at the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment, and Professor Andrea Penna at the University of Pavia and the consortium of ESECMaSE project are gratefully acknowledged for providing the experimental data used in this research. Finally, the authors acknowledge the Research Computing Service at Imperial College for providing and supporting the required high-performance computing facilities.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 1 • January 2021
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 3, 2019
Accepted: Jun 11, 2020
Published online: Oct 21, 2020
Published in print: Jan 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Mar 21, 2021
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