Seismic Performance of Different Masonry Buildings: Full-Scale Experimental Study

• Published in: Journal of performance of constructed facilities 2016-10, Vol.30 (5)
• Main Authors: Chourasia, Ajay, Bhattacharyya, S. K, Bhandari, N. M, Bhargava, Pradeep
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aseismic buildings; Buildings; Degradation; Energy dissipation; Masonry; Mathematical models; Seismic response; Stiffness; Technical Papers
• ISSN: 0887-3828; 1943-5509
• DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0000850

AbstractFull-scale single-room masonry buildings of different typology, i.e., unreinforced (URM), reinforced (RM) and Confined Masonry (CM) were tested under cyclic loading in quasi-static manner to study the seismic performance. All the indigenously built building typologies were 3.01×3.01  m in plan and 3.0 m in height, having exactly similar material, geometry, and construction practices. Among six tests conducted, three were on original masonry system and remaining three models were URM-repaired (URM_REP), URM-retrofitted (URM_RET) and RM-retrofitted (RM_RET), with same initial features. The observations made and the test data collected were for different damage grades and displacement capacity. The present paper focuses on the analysis of experimental results in terms of lateral load capacity, stiffness degradation, displacement ductility capacity, behavior factors and energy dissipation capacities. The failure modes observed were: sliding of brick at mortar-unit interface; discrete shear cracks in masonry walls, crushing of masonry units and bending of reinforcement in tie columns. Out of the tested specimens, CM building exhibited large initial stiffness, along with higher strength, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, behavior factor and low level of structural damage. Consequent on significant cracks, CM building showed uniform stiffness reduction, while URM structure exhibited rapid stiffness degradation with minimal increase in lateral deformation.