Seismic vulnerability assessment of Falak-ol-Aflak Castle

In this article, seismic vulnerability of one of the ancient monuments ‎in Iran, Falakol aflak Castle, located in ‎Lorestan, is evaluated. In this ‎regard, by conducting field surveys, the damages in different parts of ‎the ‎building were categorized. The results of these investigations ‎indicated erosion and cracking in the ‎construction of the building, ‎settlements of parts of the building that caused cracks in some parts ‎of the building, ‎and rising dampness due to the presence of water ‎flow in the foundation of the building. Next, by modeling the ‎building ‎in Abaqus software, the seismic vulnerability of the building was ‎studied through incremental analysis. The ‎results of this analysis ‎indicated the vulnerability of different parts of the building, which ‎indicated the necessity of ‎presenting a seismic improvement plan. By ‎using in-situ piles and micro piles in the soil as well as vertical ‎reinforced ‎cores in the walls, the results of numerical analysis showed ‎that a significant improvement in the seismic ‎performance of the ‎building has occurred. The intensity of the original maximum plastic ‎strains and its extent were ‎much less compared to the unretrofitted ‎building. Also, the force-displacement diagrams of the building in ‎different ‎directions indicated a significant decrease in the ‎deterioration of the building's stiffness, which indicates the ‎reduction ‎of its vulnerability due to the addition of the proposed improvement ‎system. ‎