Seismic analysis and investigation of damage mechanism of 57th infantry regiment memorial using finite-discrete element method

Abstract

The paper deals with the seismic behavior of a masonry memorial which experienced two earthquakes in one year and suffered serious structural damage. The memorial was first built in 1992 to commemorate the soldiers died in great Gallipoli war, which was held between Ottoman Empire and Allied countries in Canakkale peninsula a hundred years ago. In 2013, it was replaced with the existing one using cut stone masonry units with mortar as bindings. The site investigation has revealed permanent residual damages and failure of material in some specific locations at the uppermost segment of the memorial occurred during the successive earthquake events. In this study, some flaws in the engineering design of the memorial are addressed, which are related to the lateral stiffness distribution along the structure’s height. In addition, the material tests conducted on the specimens taken from the memorial revealed that the material strength is too poor. Ambient vibration tests were also conducted on site in order to identify the modal parameters of the memorial and compare with the results of initial finite element model. Finally, a finite-discrete element model of the memorial was created and analyzed under Canakkale earthquakes as well as a more intense earthquake occurred in Duzce/Turkey in 1999. The seismic behavior of the original and the existing structure are investigated and compared. Additionally, a retrofitted model of the memorial by using lead bars which tie the masonry units vertically and/or horizontally was created and analyzed. The results show that the performance of the memorial retrofitted by the lead bars is much better than the initial model. In addition, the earthquake resistance of the original structure which has a more appropriate lateral stiffness distribution is higher.