Abstract

This article presents a study on the structural behavior of the Government Building that is part of the old Lecumberri Palace and which currently houses the Mexican General Archive of the Nation. This building was inaugurated in 1900 and closed in 1976, after serving as a prison for 76 years. It was reopened in 1982 after it had undergone several remodeling works. The construction is made of brick masonry with lime mortar. It is supported by a deposit of overly compressible high-plasticity clays. The main problems of this building are the appearance of cracks in both interior and exterior walls, and moisture in the ground floor, caused by differential settlements. The study entailed a geometric and a damage survey as well as ambient vibration tests in order to determine the dynamic properties of the construction. The data obtained was used for the making of a model that, using the finite element method, was analyzed under different load conditions. This study has focused on the overall response with the assumption of smeared crack damage. According to the results, the building’s safety was deemed as acceptable. It has the capability to withstand seismic actions as established by the Mexican Building Code due to the high density of its walls and the resulting stiffness, which infer that the fundamental vibration period of the building would be distant from the predominant vibration period of the soil. This highlights the idea that the building’s critical condition is constituted by the differential settlements, which cause damage in the construction.

Highlights

  • The General Archive of the Nation is located in what once was the Lecumberri Palace Prison, north-east of Mexico City, in Mexico

  • Maximum live loads are used for the gravitational analysis and immediate settlements; instant live loads are used for the seismic analysis; average live loads are used for differential settlements

  • The safety factor due to the own weight was of 5.3. It was obtained by the relation of the compressive strength of the masonry and the average stress at the base of the model

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Summary

Introduction

The General Archive of the Nation is located in what once was the Lecumberri Palace Prison, north-east of Mexico City, in Mexico. The main objective is to preserve the historic memory of Mexico in optimal conditions, both physical and environmental For this reason, the authorities, concerned for its preservation as a historic building, requested information about its current state. The authorities, concerned for its preservation as a historic building, requested information about its current state To this effect, a study on the structural behavior of the Government. Special attention was paid to the information regarding the structure, which shed light on the specific characteristics of its original state, and the works and interventions to which it was subjected over time. The smeared crack damage assumption is used This type of model has has been widely used in the analysis of unreinforced brick masonry with good results [6,7].

Historical Background
Antonio
Aerial
Frontal building circa circa 1980
Structural and Geometric Survey
Damage Survey
Determining
Determining Gravitational Loads
Live Load
Finite Element Model
Finite
Analysis by Gravitational Loads
Ambient Vibration Tests
Modal Spectral Analysis
10. Design
11. Seismic
Differential Settlements Analysis
Linear Sequential Analysis
Conclusions

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