Accelerate session short presentation

Seismic failure modes of masonry elements

Simon Petrovi
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Earthquake-induced damage of historic masonry structures

- devestating earthquakes occur worldwide on a yearly basis - protecting the architectural heritage is of major importance in seismic areas - seismic analysis of historic structures is still a challenging eld of research since ancient masonry buildings have specic architectonic parts - large areas in Europe are characterised by a high level of seismic hazard and assessing the seismic safety of ancient masonry structures is often relevant

[Final] Accelerate-MasonryElements-Petrovcic.cdf

Mathematical modelling of masonry structures

Damage to historic masonry structures in Italy during the l' Acquilla 2009 and Modena 2012 erathquakes

The large number of monumental buildings in urban areas requires facing the problem with a methodology that can be applied at territorial scale, with simplied models which need little and easily obtainable data. In the equivalent frame modelling approach the loads (vertical or lateral) are only applied to specific nodes and the mathematical model of the structure comprises of one-dimensional beam elements consisting of: - vertical structural components (piers) - coupling horizontal structural components (spandrels) - rigid elements between the pier-spandrel intersections, which account for connection zones that are nominally much stiffer than their connecting elements

[Final] Accelerate-MasonryElements-Petrovcic.cdf

Brencich et al., 1998

Failure modes of masonry piers

Depending on the piers height-to-width ratio (slenderness), boundary conditions, vertical loading, as well as the mechanical and geometrical characteristics of the masonry components, three types of failure modes need to be taken into consideration when a masonry pier is horizontally loaded in the in-plane direction.

[Final] Accelerate-MasonryElements-Petrovcic.cdf

In the past, many experimental tests have been performed in order to attempt to determine the inuence of these parameters on the formation of specific failure modes. The most common simplied failure mode models presented in the literature and in various design codes are summarized in the following table:

[Final] Accelerate-MasonryElements-Petrovcic.cdf

Failure mode parameters

In general, the mechanical parameters fc , ft and t can be considered as global strength parameters, meaning that a constant value can usually be assumed for each of them for the entire masonry structure. Moreover, the definitions of the selected failure mode models also permit the parameters m and z to have the significance of global parameters, rather than being related to local material properties such as the strength parameters of the mortar joints. Taking into account these assumptions leads us to correlate all of the failure modes with variables related only to the pier's axial force variation and its geometry (the variables N and l, respectively).

Failure mode surfaces

Three-dimensional plots of specific failure mode surfaces for a sample masonry pier with a varying width. Pier height 245 cm (approx. 8 feet), thickness 50 cm (approx. 20 inches).

Graphical representation

[Final] Accelerate-MasonryElements-Petrovcic.cdf

Ultimate lateral strength

Since each failure mode presented can be expressed with respect to the piers slenderness ratio l and axial compressive force N, the ultimate lateral strength of a masonry pier (Vult ) can be presented as a failure mode interaction (FMI) surface corresponding to the minimum failure mode for a certain pair (l, N):

Vult_, N_ : MinVr, N, Vdiag, N, Vslide, N;

[Final] Accelerate-MasonryElements-Petrovcic.cdf

Graphical representation

Contribution of specific failure modes

The surface plot of the ultimate lateral strength does not give us any information ragarding the contribution of the specific failure modes. It is imporatant to distinguish between these contributions in order to determine which failure mode will actually take place in a certain masonry pier. We can plot parts of the ultimate lateral strength failure surface corresponding to each specific failure mode by using Mathematicas RegionFunction option.

[Final] Accelerate-MasonryElements-Petrovcic.cdf

Contour graphs

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The presented three-dimensional visualisation gives us information regarding the shape of the failure mode surface. If we want to have an idea regarding the gradient of the surface, creating a contour graph of the failure mode surface would be one option. The configuration of the contours allows us to infer the relative gradient of a parameter and estimate that parameter at specific places. In the following example a two-dimensional contour line graph of the failure mode surface is presented. It has been plotted by the aid of the ContourPlot function and considering the partitioning of the failure surface due to specific failure mode contributions. By using the Manipulate command for varying the masonry mechanical parameters (m and z) we can easily produce different contour graphs of the failure surface. Such graphs can be used by pratcticing engineers for moddeling masonry wall assemblages. The smoothness of the curves on the intersection between each specific failure mode can be improved by setting the MaxRecursion option to 5 or more. It should be pointed out, that increasing this value dramatically increases the computational time taken to plot the graph.

Influence of the mechanical parameters on the shape of the FMI surface

ManipulateQuietFailureSurfaceContours, 1, , 0.4, "Friction coefficient :", 0.3, 0.8, , 0.05, "Cohesion coefficient :", 0.01, 0.1

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[Final] Accelerate-MasonryElements-Petrovcic.cdf

References
- http://www.epa.eu - Petrovcic S, Kilar V. Seismic failure mode interaction for the equivalent frame modelling of unreinforced masonry structures. Engineering Structures 2012 (submitted for publication) - Wolfram Mathematica 8 Documentation Center

Thank you for your kind attention

Presented by Simon Petrovi, Ph.D. candidate simon.petrovcic@fa.uni-lj.si

[Final] Accelerate-MasonryElements-Petrovcic.cdf

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