Vulnerability assessment of churches at Colima by 3D limit analysis models

Abstract

This work presents the vulnerability assessment of two churches at the state of Colima by means of 3D rigid block models, using a limit analysis approach. The paper contains a description of the buildings and the damage they suffered during the 2003 earthquake. The 3D models were elaborated on the basis of macroblocks defined according to the damage observed after the earthquake and also, taking into account the typical failure mechanisms in churches reported in the literature. The limit analyses were carried out with a software already tested and validated elsewhere. The results show that the limit analysis approach with rigid block models is a valuable tool for the identification of critical failure mechanisms, their associated failure multipliers and, in a global fashion, for the vulnerability assessment of historical churches. The results also indicate that empirical methods provide a good estimation of the vulnerability level of this buildings type.