ENERGY DISSIPATION - AN INDICATOR OF POTENTIAL STRUCTURAL DAMAGES FOR MASONRY STRUCTURES

For existing buildings masonry, numerical simulation of the seismic behaviour is difficult, involving complex nonlinear models. Testing large-scale models on shaking tables involves important costs and time. Still, the main purpose of testing or simulations is often to identify structural vulnerabilities probable failure modes so that the correct strengthening solution can be chosen. A simplified method for the assessment of the potential structural degradation pattern for simple masonry buildings is proposed. This method is based on energy dissipation and can be easily implemented by practicing engineers. Four case studies are performed using linear numerical models. The results are compared with observations on buildings tested on shaking tables.