Detailed distinct element modeling of a Utrecht wharf cellar for the assessment of the load-bearing capacity and failure mechanism

The city of Utrecht is famously known for the system of canals and the wharf cellars integrated to the heart of the city, whose construction dates back to the 1300s. Due to increased traffic volume which caused the increase in dead load and traffic load, it is important to assess the safety and state of maintenance of these historical structures...

Investigation of the Structural Performance of Masonry Wharf Cellars in Utrecht Using the Distinct Element Method

One of the characteristic features of the city of Utrecht is its extensive system of canals and wharf cellars, whose constructions date back as early as the 1200s, and which are now considered as one of the historical properties of the city. A typical wharf cellar in Utrecht comprises a masonry barrel vault with multi-layered rings for the...

Seismic Assessment Of Dutch Urm Buildings According To Npr9998:2018 Code With An Equivalent-Frame Approach

In the last two decades, the province of Groningen, located in the North-East of the Netherlands, has been subjected to an increasing number of earthquakes induced by gas extractions. The existing building stock is mainly composed by unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings not conceived to resist seismic loads. The need of reducing the...

Numerical Study Of Pier-Wall Connections In Typical Dutch Urm Buildings

In recent years, the seismic risk in the north of the Netherlands has increased due to gas extraction. Since 2014, the Delft University of Technology started a research program to assess the seismic response of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. The Dutch URM buildings are characterized by slender piers and transverse walls. In common...

Quasi-static cyclic two-way out-of-plane bending tests and analytical models comparison for URM walls

Out-of-plane failure is one of the most important mechanisms for unreinforced ma-sonry (URM) structures to be prevented in the seismic areas. The one-way out-of-plane bend-ing failure mechanism has been studied by several authors. The two-way bending failure mechanism has received much less attention and only few formulations for specific cases...

Blind prediction of a cyclic pushover test on a two-storey masonry assemblage: a comparative study

In recent years induced seismicity in the north of the Netherlands has considerably increased. The built environment in the region mainly consists of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. Those buildings were not designed for seismic loads and have specific characteristics, that limit their seismic performance. In early 2017 a quasi-static...

Mechanical characterisation of wall tie connection in cavity walls

The assessment of the seismic response of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings has been a popular topic all over the world in the last decades. In recent years, induced seismicity in the north of the Netherlands increased considerably and introduced seismic risk also in this country. The built environment in the region is mainly composed by...

A multiscale experimental characterisation of Dutch unreinforced masonry buildings

In recent years, induced seismicity in the north of the Netherlands significantly increased. As a consequence, the seismic assessment of the built environment, which mainly consists of unreinforced masonry (URM) structures not designed for seismic loads, became of high relevance. Within this context, an extensive multiscale testing program has...

Large-scale testing program for the seismic characterization of Dutch masonry walls.

The evaluation of the seismic response of unreinforced masonry buildings is a popular topic all over the world. In recent years, also the Netherlands started to face seismic risk, since the induced seismicity in the north of the country considerably increased (the gas extraction started in 1963, and earthquakes have occurred since the early ‘90s...

Computational modeling of the cyclic pushover test on a calcium silicate element masonry assemblage

Induced seismicity in the Groningen region of the Netherlands has led to a large scale testing campaign on Calcium silicate element masonry structures at Delft University of Technology. An overview of the finite element analysis (FEA) using an implicit solver, on the full scale quasi-static cyclic pushover test performed on a two-storey calcium...

Cyclic pushover test on an unreinforced masonry structure reseambling a typical Dutch terraced house

During the last years, induced seismicity in the northern part of the Netherlands increased and the seismic assessment of unreinforced masonry (URM) structures became an important issue. As the problem is recent, the current building stock is not designed to withstand earthquakes and national guidelines are under development, but currently not...

Computational modelling of masonry with a view to Groningen induced seismicity

Computational models for masonry are briefly reviewed and judged upon their practical performance at the structural scale, i.e. at building level, in a nonlinear pushover or nonlinear time history setting. Particular attention is given to an anisotropic macro model based upon total stress-strain relations in tension, shear and compression...