Seismic Response Evaluation of Kashan Historical Bazaar Structure Including Soil-Structure Interaction

Historical heritage structures are especially vulnerable to earthquakes becausethey were designed only for gravity loads without any consideration of lateralloads. For this reason, the preservation and maintenance of these structures are ofgreat cultural, economic, and social importance. The present study investigates theseismic vulnerability of a historical structure called Kashan Bazaar, located inKashan (central Iran), dating back to the 17th century. The detailed 3D geometricalmodel of this structure was drawn using SolidWorks software. Finite elementnumerical method was used to evaluate the response of Bazaar structure usingmacro-modeling approach. Static, modal, and nonlinear static (pushover) analyseswere carried out using two cases, with soil-structure interaction (SSI) and withoutSSI (fixed-base). According to the results, considering the SSI has a significantinfluence on the mode shapes, vibration frequencies, and the structural responses.The structure of Bazaar can withstand gravity loads as well as DBE demandsin fixed-base model. However, the results of the SSI analyses show the structureweakness against lateral loads.