Displacement-Based Simplified Seismic Loss Assessment of Masonry Buildings

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the framework of the evaluation of the consequences of an earthquake, the paper provides a procedure for the economic loss assessment in unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings, proposing an analytical approach based on a cost function directly dependent on the damage level associated to different structural elements and identified by specific engineering demand parameters. The procedure follows a component-based approach, to be implemented within modern probabilistic seismic risk analyses, and it includes both the in-plane and out-of-plane damage modes that can be activated in a URM structure. It is applied to a three-storey building, examined varying some configurations of structural details, aimed to simulate two different in-plane collapse mechanisms (with damage concentrated mostly on piers or also in spandrels), or to allow, in one case, also the activation of local out-of-plane mechanisms.