Seismic Analysis of Masonry Structures

Pulkit Parikh, Prof. Siddhartha Ghosh Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
ABSTRACT
Masonry structures are particularly prone to damages and partial or global collapses when subjected to horizontal actions. High seismic vulnerability of these ancient buildings can be associated both to the particular configuration of this type of constructions and to the mechanical properties of the masonry material. There is a need for further research in this field so as to improve the performance of such structures under seismic loads.

INTRODUCTION
Masonry structures represent a signicant portion of the international built inventory, including most of the worlds historical constructions. These structures face several causes of distress including material degradation, foundation settlements, structural alterations, and overloading. However, in seismic zones the major threat to their stability generally comes from earthquakes. It is thus necessary to better understand the collapse of masonry structures to protect human life, cultural resources, and regional economies.

ANALYSIS
The mechanical properties of the material are taken as Coefficient of Friction () = 0.2 Elastic Modulus (E) = 3 GPa Density () = 1800 kg/m3 Poissons ratio () = 0.18 Meshing of the blocks has been done in the software in such a way that all the blocks individually act as single elements during analysis. The only load that is considered in the analysis of the dome is the gravity load. The value of the acceleration due to gravity is taken as 10 m/s2. For the arch, in addition to the load due to selfweight, a uniformly distributed load of magnitude 1000 kg/m2 is also applied on the arch in the downward direction.

SUMMARY
The results of the analysis show that the masonry structures like arches and domes show a significant deformation even under the selfweight and the imposed loads. These structures might be more prone to failure under seismic loads. The blocks which move apart and thus show poor performance in terms of resistance to failure can be identified from the deformed shapes.

FUTURE WORK
The ground acceleration which is typically applied on the structures in the event of an earthquake will be simulated. Analysis of the behavior of the structures under earthquake loads will be done and the sections or parts of the structures which show the least resistance and hence are more prone to failure will be identified.

RELATED WORK
Oppenheim was the rst to apply a truly dynamic analysis to the masonry arch. He analyzed the dynamic response of an arch considered as a rigid body four-link mechanism under a base acceleration impulse. Papantonopoulos demonstrated good correlation between the solutions yielded by the discrete element method and rigid body dynamics for a rocking block subjected to simulated earthquake ground motion. DeJong and Ochsendorf used the discrete element method to simulate the behavior of the single rocking block, the masonry arch, and the arch on buttresses.

OBJECTIVES
Look at the performance of arches and domes under static as well as earthquake loads Identify the type of failure that usually occurs under seismic loads Suggest solutions to improve the performance of these structures

REFERENCES
DeJong M., Ochsendorf J.A., (2006), Analysis of vaulted masonry structures subjected to horizontal ground motion, Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions, New Delhi, 973980 Oppenheim I.J., (1992), The masonry arch as a four-link mechanism under base motion, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 21:10051017 Papantonopoulos C.L., (1997), The earthquake resistance of ancient columns, 5th International Conference on Structural Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of Historical Buildings