Performance Evaluation of Masonry Buildings Using a Probabilistic Approach

In many countries, there are traditional houses made of stone, adobe and brick, which perform relatively weakly in earthquakes. To mitigate casualties in future earthquakes, it is necessary to evaluate the current status of these buildings and propose e ective methods to retro t them. One method of evaluating the performance of buildings in earthquakes is through the use of fragility curves. These diagrams show the probability of exceeding a speci c state of damage versus seismic intensity parameters, such as PGA, MMI, Ia, CAV etc. Fragility curves will provide an important basis for analytical methods, based on probabilistic approaches. Much work has been done on bridges, concrete and steel structures, while limited studies have been conducted on masonry buildings. Considering the prevalence of these buildings and the high seismic activity in some regions where they are built, fragility curves for di erent types of masonry buildings are developed in this research. The results obtained show the probable damage to those types of masonry building chosen in this research for di erent earthquake intensities and restates that, by providing horizontal and vertical ties and retro tting these buildings, by the methods proposed in some seismic code provisions (such as FEMA 356 and 357), their behavior in earthquakes are apparently e ected and structural damage reduced. Furthermore, results indicate that soil type does not signi cantly in uence the seismic behavior of masonry buildings.