Multi-Scale Approach towards Groningen Masonry and Induced Seismicity

Abstract

In the last years, the induced seismicity in the northern part of the Netherlands has considerably increased. The existing building stock was not designed for seismic loading, and it is characterised by very slender walls, limited cooperation between walls and floors, and use of cavity walls. As a consequence, the validation of analytical and numerical models for the assessment of unreinforced masonry buildings and the characterisation of the masonry at both material and structural level have become of great importance. An extensive large-scale testing program was performed at the Delft University of Technology in 2015 to create benchmarks for the validation of the numerical and analytical models. The attention was mainly devoted to a terraced house typology, which was widely adopted for housing in the period 1960-1980, and focused on the characterisation of the typology at various levels: material, connection, component and assemblage level. The experimental tests at component and assemblage levels were also reproduced by nonlinear finite element analysis, validated and calibrated against the data available from the testing campaign at material level. In this paper, an overview description of performed experiments and numerical analyses is provided; specific devotion is given to the main outcomes of the campaign and to the lessons learned by the experimental evidences for improving the numerical models.