MultiCAMS · Multi-level Model Calibration for the Assessment of Historical Masonry Structures

Multi-level Model Calibration for the Assessment of Historical Masonry Structures

Masonry structures constitute an important part of the built environment and architectural heritage in seismic areas. A large number of these old structures showed inadequate performance and suffered substantial damage under past earthquakes. Realistic numerical models are required for accurate response predictions under dynamic loading and for addressing the implementation of effective strengthening solutions. Numerical macromodels used in the professional practice masonry are generally not able to capture the complexity of masonry response. On the other hand, detailed mesoscale approaches developed in the scientific community are more accurate but require computational resources which are beyond what is available to ordinary practitioners. An innovative approach retaining the low computational cost of macro-models and the calibration simplicity of mesoscale models is thus desirable. The topic of structural assessment of historical heritage is very timely, since it responds to the societal demands for resilient structures, and recent catastrophic seismic events in Europe have highlighted the necessity of urgent assessment and strengthening of historical buildings. Eurocode 8, Part 3 (informative) and the international standard ISO 13822 provide only general principles for the assessment of existing structures, the latter requiring that “Structural performance shall be analysed using models that reliably represent the actions on the structure, the behaviour of the structure, and the resistance of its components”. At the moment, however, the use of accurate dynamic analysis is precluded for the assessment of historical masonry heritage, leading to large approximations and low accuracy in the assessment of their structural behaviour under earthquake. This means possibly unconservative predictions which may jeopardize human lives in many European urban areas, as confirmed by recent catastrophic events. The MultiCAMS project has developed an advanced computational strategy including numerical modelling and innovative model calibration for the realistic assessment of historical unreinforced masonry structures. The proposed assessment approach is based on the use of nonlinear FE models with different levels of sophistication including detailed mesoscale models, where masonry units and mortar joints are modelled separately, and homogeneous models assuming masonry as a continuum material. An innovative model calibration strategy utilising inverse analysis techniques has been developed to capitalise on the efficiency of the novel simplified mechanical model and the accuracy of existing detailed mesoscale descriptions whose material properties can be obtained in simple and non-invasive in-situ physical tests. The main outcome of MultiCAMS is thus a comprehensive and accurate methodology for the seismic assessment of historical masonry buildings.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз