• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.6 no.7
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• pp.801-815
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• 1998

An overview of an analytical model to predict mortar joint failure in unreinforced masonry (URM) structures is presented. The validity of the model is established by comparison with experimental results at element level as well as structure level. This model is then used to study the behavior of URM walls and two commonly used retrofitting schemes. Finally, effectiveness of the two retrofitting schemes in increasing strength and stiffness of existing URM walls is discussed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.213-229
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• 2013

Although performance based assessment procedures are mainly developed for reinforced concrete and steel buildings, URM (Unreinforced Masonry) buildings occupy significant portion of buildings in earthquake prone areas of the world as well as in IRAN. Variability of material properties, non-engineered nature of the construction and difficulties in structural analysis of masonry walls make analysis of URM buildings challenging. Despite sophisticated finite element models satisfy the modeling requirements, extensive experimental data for definition of material behavior and high computational resources are needed. Recently, nonlinear equivalent frame models which are developed assigning lumped plastic hinges to isotropic and homogenous equivalent frame elements are used for nonlinear modeling of URM buildings. The equivalent frame models are not novel for the analysis of masonry structures, but the actual potentialities have not yet been completely studied, particularly for non-linear applications. In the present paper an effective tool for the non-linear static analysis of 2D masonry walls is presented. The work presented in this study is about performance assessment of unreinforced brick masonry buildings through nonlinear equivalent frame modeling technique. Reliability of the proposed models is tested with a reversed cyclic experiment conducted on a full scale, two-story URM building at the University of Pavia. The pushover curves were found to provide good agreement with the experimental backbone curves. Furthermore, the results of analysis show that EFM (Equivalent Frame Model) with Dolce RO (rigid offset zone) and shell element have good agreement with finite element software and experimental results.

• Architectural research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.159-166
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• 2013

This study was aimed at analyzing the three-step seismic performance evaluation procedure of Korea Infrastructure Safety Cooperation and proposing a new procedure suitable for unreinforced masonry buildings in Korea. For the study, it was investigated the performance evaluation results of five example URM buildings. First of all, it was found that the performance evaluation procedure for the URM buildings should be different from that for the other structural systems. As a result, a simple procedure of seismic performance evaluation was proposed, which includes elimination of elastic and inelastic push-over analysis and reduction of performance levels and evaluation steps. With the simple procedure, the URM buildings could be evaluated more easily than the other structures. It would be expected that the procedure can provide structural engineers with a simple and easy way to evaluate the seismic performance of the Korean URM buildings. Nevertheless, the procedure must be revised continuously by reflecting new research products for the URM buildings in Korea.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.599-614
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• 2018

This study focuses on the earthquake performance of two URM buildings having typical architectural configurations common for residential use constructed per pre-modern code in Albania. Both buildings are unreinforced clay brick masonry structures constructed in 1960 and 1984, respectively. The first building is a three-storey unreinforced one with masonry walls. The second one is confined masonry rising on five floors. Mechanical characteristics of masonry walls were determined based on experimental tests conducted according to ASTM C67-09 regulations. A global numerical model of the buildings was built, and masonry material was simulated as nonlinear. Pushover analyses are carried out to obtain capacity curves. Displacement demands were calculated according to Eurocode 8 and FEMA440 guidelines. Causes of building failures in recent earthquakes were examined using the results of this study. The results of the study showed that the URM building displays higher displacement and shear force demands that can be directly related to damage or collapse. On the other hand, the confined one exhibits relatively higher seismic resistance by indicating moderate damage. Moreover, effects of demand estimation approaches on performance assessment of URM buildings were compared. Deficiencies and possible solutions to improve the capacity of such buildings were discussed.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.531-536
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• 2001

URM buildings have been damaged seriously during earthquake since they were not designed to resist lateral loads. It has led to the importance of studying the behavior and capacity for URM building. The objective of this study is to evaluate seismic performance of URM (Unreinforced Masonry) building. For this purpose, this paper discuss the response of 2 story reduced-scale building subjected to earthquake motion and compare them using existing guidelines to provide improved knowledge for URM building.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.5
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• pp.487-498
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• 2023

Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings are extensively adopted in many of the growing nations, particularly in India. Window or door openings are required for architectural or functional reasons, which pose a threat to the building's safety. The past earthquakes have shown that the seismic capability of these structures was very weak. Strengthening these unreinforced masonry walls using welded wire mesh (WWM) is one of the most commonly and economical methods. The present experimental study investigates the impact of openings on the shear behaviour of URM walls and the effectiveness of WWM in enhancing the shear performance of masonry wall. In the experimental program 16 specimens were cast, 8 unstrengthen and 8 strengthened specimens, under 8 unstrengthen and strengthened specimens, every 2 specimens had 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15% openings and all these walls were tested under diagonal compression. The results show that the shear carrying capacity reduces as the opening percentage increases. However, strengthening the URM specimens using WWM significantly improves the peak load, shear strength, ductility, stiffness, and energy dissipation. Furthermore, the strengthening of the URM walls using WWM compensated the loss of wall capacity caused by the presence of the openings.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.277-283
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• 2016

Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings are known to be highly vulnerable to seismic loadings. Although significant physical variation may exist for URM buildings that fall into a same structural category, a single set of fragility curves is typically used as a representation of the seismic vulnerability of the URM structures. This study investigates the effect of physical variation of URM structures on their seismic performance level. Variables that describe the physical variation of the structure are defined based on the inventory analysis. Seismic behavior of the structures is then monitored by changing the variables to investigate the effect of each variable. The analysis results show that among the variables considered the seismic performance of URM building depends on the variation of the width, the aspect ratio, and the number of story. The need for further research on the modeling of the connections between the walls and diaphragms and the torsional effect is also addressed.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.265-272
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• 1999

there is no earthquake resistant design code for the unreinforced masonary(URM) buildings in Korea. But it does not mean that all URM buldings in Korea is safe under the possible extent of an earthquake. The purpose of this study is in the inelastic analysis of unreinforced masonary walls with many different types of openings and carry out their ductilities an strengths, response modification factor of each wall has been compared and the most appropriate response modification factor for URM building in Korea has been proposed.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.283-291
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• 2018

This study intends to develop an analytical model of unreinforced masonry(URM) walls for the nonlinear static analysis which has been generally used to evaluate the seismic performance of a building employing URM walls as seismic force-resisting members. The developed model consists of fiber elements used to capture the flexural behavior of an URM wall and a shear spring element implemented to predict its shear response. This paper first explains the configuration of the proposed model and describes how to determine the modeling parameters of fiber and shear spring elements based on the stress-strain curves obtained from existing experimental results of masonry prisms. The proposed model is then verified throughout the comparison of its nonlinear static analysis results with the experimental results of URM walls carried out by other researchers. The proposed model well captures the maximum strength, the initial stiffness, and their resulting load - displacement curves of the URM walls with reasonable resolution. Also, it is demonstrated that the analysis model is capable of predicting the failure modes of the URM walls.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2022

In this study, the seismic performance of a two-story unreinforced masonry (URM) building was assessed following the linear and nonlinear static procedures specified in the seismic evaluation guideline of existing buildings. First, the provisions to assess failure modes and shear strengths of URM walls and wall piers were reviewed. Then, a two-story URM building was assessed by the linear static procedure using m-factors. The results showed that the walls and wall piers with aspect ratios h_e // (i.e., effective height-to-length ratio) > 1.5 were unsafe due to rocking or toe crushing, whereas the walls with h_e // ≤ 1.5 and governed by bed-joint sliding mainly were safe. Axial stresses and shear forces acted upon individual masonry walls, and wall piers differed depending on whether the openings were modeled. The masonry building was reevaluated according to the nonlinear static procedure for a more refined assessment. Based on the linear and nonlinear assessment results, considerations of seismic evaluation for low-rise masonry buildings were given with a focus on the effects of openings.