Distinct element modelling of the seismic response of historical masonry constructions: insight on the out-of-plane collapse of façades

Summary

Façades belonging to historical masonry constructions typically fail by out-of-plane mechanisms. The estimate of their out-of-plane capacity is not a trivial task, due to the different possible collapse modes (overturning, bending, disaggregation, leaf separation, sliding) and to the discontinuous nature of masonry, influencing the non-linear seismic behaviour of walls. Simplified approaches, proposed by building codes, mainly based on the mechanics of the rigid block, may not always be suitable for the purpose. Indeed, they disregard the real morphology of masonry, which instead influences weaker failure mechanisms (such as disaggregation and leaf separation). Furthermore, they neglect the interaction of the façade with the rest of the building and its interlocking with transversal walls. These shortcomings can be overcome resorting to distinct element method (DEM), in which masonry is modelled as an aggregation of discrete units and no-thickness interfaces and the actual morphology of constructions is considered. In this paper, DEM is adopted to investigate the out-of-plane seismic behaviour of façades through non-linear analyses, by focusing on vertical bending and overturning failure mechanisms. The former is studied by comparing results of shake table tests on both single-leaf and double-leaf masonry walls to dynamic simulations in which real accelerograms are applied. The latter is analysed by performing non-linear static analyses on the Romanesque church of St. Maria Maggiore in Tuscania, Italy, by focusing on its façade. Distinct element method provided a realistic description of the behaviour of façades under earthquake loadings, in terms of both seismic capacity, crack pattern and failure mode.

Abstract

Full Paper