Seismic Vulnerability Assessment and Strengthening Interventions of Structural Units of a Typical Clustered Masonry Building in the Campania Region of Italy

Abstract

The present paper aims at inspecting the structural behaviour of a typical masonry aggregate located in the historical centre of Cercola, a municipality in the province of Naples. The clustered building under study consists of four structural units mutually connected to each other made of tuff stone and deformable floors. Two distinct structural units, namely in heading and intermediate places, in both isolated and aggregate conditions, are examined to estimate the influence of structural positions on the global seismic response of the examined case study buildings. For this purpose, non-linear static analyses are performed using the 3MURI software. Pushover analyses are conducted to both evaluate the seismic behaviour of examined structural units and improve their earthquake performances while considering proper retrofit interventions on vertical and horizontal structures. The analysis results are plotted in terms of risk factor, stiffness, and ductility. Finally, a set of fragility functions are derived to point out the structural response of the case study buildings before and after retrofit interventions. From the achieved results, it is highlighted that retrofit interventions improve the structural performances of the buildings, especially those of structural units in aggregate conditions.

Keywords

• masonry aggregates
• non-linear static analysis
• retrofit interventions
• risk factor
• fragility curves