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...

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...

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...

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