In-Plane Behaviour of Unreinforced Masonry Strengthened with a Structural Glass Window: A Proof of Concept

Innovative solutions for seismic-retrofitting existing structures are currently required, as often traditional strategies are expensive, non-reversible, highly invasive, and/or fail to address both serviceability and ultimate limit states together. The present paper describes a preliminary experimental campaign performed at TU Delft to...

Performance of unreinforced masonry strengthened with bed joint reinforced repointing

Bed joint reinforced repointing is a strengthening method often used in the Netherlands to counteract settlement damage. This strengthening technique consists of cutting a slot in the mortar joint and installing twisted steel bars embedded in a high-strength repair mortar. Due to the increase in seismic activities, triggered by gas extraction in...

The application of mechanism based and equivalent frame methods for the seismic assessment of URM terraced houses in Groningen

Since the 60’s the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) has been extracting gas from the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. This resulted into seismic activity. However, the buildings in Groningen are not designed to withstand any seismic loading. The assessment of the seismic behavior of the building stock of Groningen is required to...

Experimental investigation of the in-plane cyclic behaviour of calcium silicate brick masonry walls

The material and structural performance of calcium silicate (CS) brick masonry has received relatively little attention in the past, although this material is often used for the construction of low-rise buildings in Central and Northern Europe. Upon the occurrence of induced seismicity in the north of the Netherlands, an extensive testing...

Applicability of the Pushover Method for the Seismic Assessment of URM Structures in Groningen: A Case Study of a Low-Rise Apartment Building

In Groningen, seismic activity has increased due to the extraction of gas in the area. A large-scale research campaign has been launched with the aim to assess and safeguard structures in the region. However, an accurate assessment of these buildings turned out to be a challenge, due to the nonlinear behaviour of the masonry and the dynamic...

Determination of the displacement demand for the out-of-plane seismic response of unreinforced masonry walls for the Groningen Case

This research describes the demand of a Displacement-based approach for the assessment of out-of plane behaviour of one-way vertically-spanning unreinforced masonry (URM) walls of terraced and detached houses in the Groningen Province. One of the most vulnerable components of a typical Dutch unreinforced masonry building subjected to earthquake...

Experimental and computational study of the influence of pre-damage patterns in unreinforced masonry crack propagation due to induced, repeated earthquakes

Induced seismicity in the north of the Netherlands has recently exposed unprepared, unreinforced masonry structures to considerable earthquake risk. While the ultimate-limit state capacity of the structures is vital to assess the individual’s risk, their behavior during more frequent, lighter earthquakes, leading to ‘lighter damage’, has shown...

A damaging block-based model for the analysis of the cyclic behaviour of full-scale masonry structures

In this paper, a damaging block-based model is proposed for the numerical analysis of the cyclic behaviour of full-scale masonry structures. Solid 3D finite elements governed by a plastic-damage constitutive law in tension and compression are used to model the blocks, while a cohesive-frictional contact-based formulation is developed to simulate...

Development of a dataset on the in-plane experimental response of URM piers with bricks and blocks

In this paper, a dataset collecting the results of in-plane cyclic tests on unreinforced masonry piers, carried out within different research projects, is presented. The dataset includes brick and block walls with different materials, bed-and head-joint typologies, dimensions, boundary conditions and vertical applied loads. The development of...

Sequentially linear analysis with equivalent frame method to simulate unreinforced masonry structures

This research investigates how the equivalent frame method in combination with a sequentially linear analysis can be used to model the behaviour of a façade of an unreinforced masonry structure, subjected to a lateral pushover load. The experimental data of the two-story building experiment at the University of Pavia is used.<br/>Two different...

Lateral strength Of urm piers: comparison between codified criteria and in-plane test results

The lateral resistance represents one of the most significant wall parameters to be used in the seismic analyses for the design/assessment of masonry buildings. In this article, an investigation on in-plane lateral strength of URM piers has been proposed thorough a comparison between the results from codified criteria and the outcomes of several...

A Comparative study on the evaluation of different testing techniques: Evaluating the mechanical properties of masonry

To accurately assess the performance of existing unreinforced masonry (URM) structures, the mechanical characteristics of masonry under compressive loading are required. The compression properties of existing URM can be evaluated through different methods, either performing destructive tests (DTs) or slightly destructive tests (SDTs). DTs can be...

University Relationship Management

In recent decades, to gain a competitive advantage, firms have improved their relationships with universities as the main generators of science and technology in modern societies. There are various goals and drivers that inspire firms to engage in such relationships. These goals and drivers, along with several facilitators, in turn indicate...

MDoF Representation for In-Plane Behaviour of URM Buildings: Non-Linear Time History Analysis

In the Groningen province, situated in the northern part of the Netherlands, a large natural gas field was discovered in 1959 and in 1964 the gas extraction started. Due to the gas extraction in the Groningen area, undesired induced earthquakes are generated. The strongest earthquake registered to date was in 2012, 3.6 of the Richter scale. Not...

Displacement-based verification of unreinforced masonry walls acting out-of-plane within a structural system

The out-of-plane behavior of unreinforced masonry walls subjected to lateral loading is a complex structural problem. This thesis focuses on the stability of URM walls in a building system under seismic loads that are comparable to those found in the Groningen scenario. The investigation is carried out by addressing both the physical and the...

Impact on Seismic Capacity of Unreinforced Masonry Houses- by varying the Geometrical Parameters of Terraced House

Literature review on the assessment of masonry properties by tests on core samples

Starting point in this research is to find a quick and non-destructive method to characterize the mechanical properties of existing masonry. Tests on cylindrical cores have been recently introduced as a novel in-situ testing method to identify the properties of existing clay brick masonry. Currently, some researchers reported promising results,...

Characterizing the Material Properties of Dutch Unreinforced Masonry

In the northern part of the Netherlands, The recent seismic activities have raised concerns about the behavior of unreinforced masonry structures which were not designed and constructed to resist seismic loading. The first step towards assessment of seismic behavior of masonry structures is to characterize the material properties. This...