Seismic damage assessment of a historical masonry minaret considering soil-structure interaction

Abstract

Historical structures should be carefully preserved and transferred to the next generations. Therefore, their seismic performances should be investigated in detail. In the finite element method, many parameters affect the seismic behaviour and damage distribution in the structures. One of the most significant parameters is the Soil-Structure Interaction effect. In finite element analyses, the soil medium is generally neglected, and the structures' base is restrained by fixed supports. In this study, seismic response of a historical masonry minaret is investigated by considering the Soil-Structure Interaction and Operational Modal Analysis methods. To determine the effect of Soil-Structure Interaction on structural behaviour, the fixed supports, hard and soft soil mediums at the base of the structure are modelled. The material and failure behaviours are defined with the Concrete Damage Plasticity model. Displacements, principal stresses, damage rates, and damage distribution of models are obtained with nonlinear time history analyses. According to the results, the interstory drift increases due to the decrease in the stiffness of the soil media. In addition, the fixed supports model was damaged more tensile stress damage than the other models. The least occurred in the soft soil model. It is concluded that the Soil-Structure Interaction effect significantly affects structural behaviour, especially the damage rate and distribution.