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| Main mountain ranges of the Caucasus region and the Middle East (original source: Natural Earth raster + vector map).
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Nearly 325 seismic and masonry codes from all over the world have been analyzed, of countries where stone masonry was, or still is, abundantly practiced. This paper compares and summarizes design specifications and construction requirements, with a specific focus on “nominally reinforced rubble stone masonry (NRM) with cement mortar and wooden diap...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... 60% of the surface of Azerbaijan is covered by mountains, such as the Greater and Lesser Caucasus Ranges and the Talysh Mountains bordering Iran. All mountain ranges of the Caucasus are shown in Figure 3. The country is assigned to just 2 very high seismic hazard levels; intensity zones 8 and 9. Traditionally, stone masonry has been practiced widely with many examples of complete villages built with stone walls and wooden reinforcements. ...
Citations
... These units are suitable for all forms of coursed or random masonry walling, including single leaves, cavities, partitions, retaining walls, and the external masonry of chimneys [63]. Several types of stone masonry can be distinguished: unreinforced random rubble masonry with mortar, unreinforced shaped stone masonry (cut cubes) with mortar, and reinforced masonry with mortar [64]. For natural stone masonry, as for other natural stone products, it is important to observe their deterioration processes, which have a major impact on their service life. ...
The selection of ornamental stones for specific applications requires technical guidance since it should be based on the durability, service life, and aesthetic value of the stones. In most cases, these fundamentals provide quantitative data on the usability and performance of ornamental stones. The present study attempts to put forward a quantitative classification system for natural stone products concerning critical rock properties. For this purpose, fundamental physical and mechanical rock properties are listed based on European standards. Then, minimum limit values are proposed for different applications of natural stone products based on retrospective analyses of numerous ornamental stone applications. The suggested limit values based on several physical and mechanical rock properties can guide relevant engineers to initially consider possible rock types for use as natural stones in a wide range of applications. In this context, it is believed that the present study contributes to the natural stone industry by discussing the minimum limit values for the consideration of a wide range of rock types possibly usable in the dimension stone industry
... The elaboration of the research is based on the identification of certain issues arising from the topic and the study of related sources. Within the framework of the literature, in particular, the issues were considered in the following directions: interrelations between structural and artistic solutions in architecture [1,[11][12][13][14]; general issues of ensuring the strength of structural systems and work efficiency [15,16]; issues related to masonry and its structure [17][18][19][20][21]; questions about the composition of the core in three-layer walls, binding materials and their development, differentiation of the core, as well as its effect on masonry and overall structure [12,16,21,22]; measures to ensure structure unity of the three-layer wall in Roman, Byzantine, and Syrian structures [12,13,[23][24][25][26][27][28]; the process of gradual evolution of three-layer walls in Armenia [29][30][31][32]; peculiarities of "midis" masonry, the composition of its core, its homogeneity and monolithic nature in the structure of the structural elements [30,31,33]; general description of the structure of Armenian medieval churches [33][34][35][36][37][38][39] and typological classifications [30,40]; some structural peculiarities of Roman, Iranian, Syrian, Byzantine, Italian and Armenian architecture and their parallels [7,11,23,24,31,41,42]; general issues concerning the use of materials in structures [7]; examples of structures made of a single material in the case of brick [5][6][7], in the case of wood [3,4], in the case of reinforced concrete [8,9]; generalizations related to technological research of monuments [21,28,[43][44][45][46]. ...
... The research, related to developed and current stone wall masonry worldwide, which includes 325 norms of seismic and stone structures, identifies the Armenian three-layer unique masonry included in the Soviet norms of the 1950s and the criteria for its use, which have been used since the Early Middle Ages to the present day [17]. Both in the pre-Christian period and in the Early Middle Ages, after that until nowadays, walls of the original three-layer structure were made in stone structures in Armenia. ...
The article touches upon the interrelations between the structural elements and the building structure in architecture. The aim of the work is to generalize the peculiarities of “midis” masonry formation and to reveal its influence in the evolution process of the structure of Armenian medieval churches by a comparative analysis of different characteristics. In the work: the development of three-layer “midis” masonry was systematized, the phenomenon of shell structure and spatial integrity in the churches of the 4th-14th centuries was highlighted, the tendencies of evolution of the masonry monolithic nature and church structure integrity were revealed by a comparative analysis of volumetric and planning characteristics of different churches. The results allowed to formulate a certain sequence of interactions in different characteristics, which confirmed the relationship between the evolution of the masonry and the structure of the churches: the evolution of “midis” masonry led to the structural monolithic nature of the walls and the forms derived from it, which in turn led to the integrity of the stone building structure. The results can be useful in further research covering structural-compositional interrelations, including both heritage and modern architecture studies.
... Various literature [1][2][3] has witnessed the incorporation of bands into masonry construction to enhance ductility, integrity and reduction of crack openings. A mud-based stone masonry building has been reinforced by reinforced concrete bands in the study of [2]. ...
... A mud-based stone masonry building has been reinforced by reinforced concrete bands in the study of [2]. Though the qualitative performance of seismic bands has various advantage, some literature [3] questions the quantitative values of using these bands worldwide. The Indian code, IS 13828-2008 [4] suggests using a minimum of two horizontal bands at lintel and roof level. ...
The traditional construction technique of masonry building with rubble stone has become obsolete due to the lack of scientific study of its performance analysis. Seismic bands are one such great technique to strengthen masonry buildings, the application of which is yet to be investigated in-depth. The objective of this study is to evaluate the requirement of reinforced concrete seismic bands on random rubble stone masonry buildings due to seismic activity. The paper also deals with the effect of the roof diaphragm on the lateral load response of stone masonry buildings. In this study, a single-storey school building constructed with random rubble stone and cement mortar is considered for analysis. Numerical modelling of the stone masonry building is carried out to perform the parametric analysis of the building due to seismic bands and diaphragms. The Finite element modelling is performed by adopting the macro-modelling-based approach implemented in ABAQUS software. A nonlinear pushover analysis is performed by uniformly applying the body force to obtain the global force deformation responses of the building models. Finite element analysis illustrates that continuous horizontal bands at the roof and lintel level of the stone masonry building result in a noteworthy increment of 95% in the base shear capacity. Furthermore, it is found that with successive addition of horizontal bands the improvement in the base shear capacity of the building models is insignificant, with comparable capacity to a building with a rigid diaphragm. The obtained results highlight the importance of horizontal bands in ensuring the box action even without diaphragm or with negligible contribution of the diaphragm, thus providing the desirable seismic performance.KeywordsRandom rubble stone masonrySeismic bandFlexible and rigid diaphragm
... Gautam et al. indicated that among the vernacular construction technologies in Nepal, Rajbanshi houses in Terai and rounded Gurung houses in the hills are resilient in terms of construction technology and their performance paradigm during past events (Gautam et al., 2016). Schildkamp et al. (2020) reviewed masonry codes worldwide, including Nepal, and compared the main design requirements, such as the overall length, width, and height dimensions of the buildings, minimum and/or maximum thickness and dimensions of the elements and openings, and specifications of the main horizontal and vertical reinforcements. Bothara et al. (2022) highlighted that current building codes for masonry construction are based on creating box effects in masonry buildings but neglect masonry unit shapes and mortar type. ...
In the Himalayan region of Nepal, stone masonry has been used for centuries as the primary building material for structures with or without mud mortar. In three distinct remote rural villages, a thorough structural survey of approximately 223 buildings was conducted with an emphasis on their structural irregularities. The thickness of masonry walls frequently varied between floors, which caused mass irregularities. Openings in the front wall of the buildings were not symmetrical in the vertical direction, which caused in-plane discontinuity. There were also out-of-plane offset irregularities due to the cross wall on the ground floor. These buildings were irregular in many aspects and were constructed without seismic considerations. This type of construction is more susceptible to earthquakes as a result of these irregularities. In this study, a thorough examination of a typical building was conducted using construction information obtained following the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. The database for each structural typology was prepared with an emphasis on construction practice to enhance the seismic design. The use of mud/cement mortar was extremely sparse, and the use of timber bands at various heights along the height of the masonry wall and an inappropriate connection between the wall and the roof were also negligible. The three main community-learned improvements following damage were the replacement of the gable wall with a metal sheet, the reduction of individual stone masonry homes to one story, and lighter construction on the upper stories of hotel buildings. Based on regional building techniques, non-linear finite models for typical and enhanced buildings were simulated. Due to the irregular stone units, construction variability, and constrained linear behavior, stone masonry with and without mud mortar presents difficulties in conducting a detailed numerical analysis. The development of these structures using mud/cement mortar and other regional materials, with careful attention to detail, was found to have significant potential as a seismically resilient building form.
... Masonry structures prevail in very large numbers in many developing countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (Schildkamp et al. 2020). The people belonging to low to middleincome groups often fail to afford structures with frames and can only afford masonry structures as low-cost alternatives with less technical input. ...
The present paper addresses a sophisticated numerical modeling technique using a plasticity-based simplified micro-model method and the extended finite element method (XFEM) for simulating the nonlinear behaviour of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls with different types of sizes and positions of openings. The validity of this model has been proven by comparing the results subjected to a similar loading obtained by the experimental approach. Thereafter, the validated computational model is used to study the behaviour of the 3D URM wall model with different opening percentages. The effect of the position of the openings is also studied. Further, the load-displacement curves are drawn to provide a clear idea about the load-carrying capacity of the same URM walls. The hysteretic behaviour obtained in each models under cyclic loading gives an idea about the energy dissipation capacity of each of the models studied. The same walls are analyzed by strengthening the walls with two cost-effective materials, wire mesh and polypropylene bands. Since the study on lateral behaviour of masonry walls, particularly regarding the effect of area and the position of the opening, is extremely terse, the present detailed study is believed to be helpful in reducing the seismic vulnerability of actual masonry structures, which always have openings with different sizes and positions.
... Consequently, the decision making scenarios results of a SHM program should comply with international conservation principles such as the one included in the ICO-MOS/ISCARSAH ''Recommendations for the analysis and Restoration of Structures of Architectural Heritage" [160] and in the ICOMOS International Charters ( [161][162][163][164]). The interested reader is referred to [165] for a comprehensive discussion of these concepts, while a comprehensive review of about 300 seismic and masonry codes from all over the world is reported in [166]. It is here worth remembering the Guidelines issued by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage for the assessment and mitigation of the seismic risk of the cultural heritage [138], where a rational path of investigation and assessment for architectural heritage which is connected to different methodologies of analysis is outlined. ...
... Consequently, the decision making scenarios results of a SHM program should comply with international conservation principles such as the one included in the ICO-MOS/ISCARSAH ''Recommendations for the analysis and Restoration of Structures of Architectural Heritage" [160] and in the ICOMOS International Charters ( [161][162][163][164]). The interested reader is referred to [165] for a comprehensive discussion of these concepts, while a comprehensive review of about 300 seismic and masonry codes from all over the world is reported in [166]. It is here worth remembering the Guidelines issued by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage for the assessment and mitigation of the seismic risk of the cultural heritage [138], where a rational path of investigation and assessment for architectural heritage which is connected to different methodologies of analysis is outlined. ...
The scientific community is hardly working to propose reliable methodologies of analysis and non-invasive technologies of investigation to assess the current state of conservation of historic buildings to verify their ability to resist future threats. These structures, mostly made of masonry, are difficult to assess due to the heterogeneity of materials and their mechanical behavior, but it is vital to preserve this invaluable cultural heritage by suitable structural assessment techniques. A great deal of research attention has been paid to monitoring their structural health; in many recent publications new advanced technological methods have been provided such as cheaper sensors, wireless connections, non-contact surveys and continuous monitoring. A bibliometric study has shown that more than half of the papers on Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Nondestructive Testing (NDT) on masonry have been published between 2018 and 2020, and 30% of those published in 2020 were on ‘slender’ elements like towers, chimneys or minarets. This paper presents a wide-ranging review of static and dynamic studies published on SHM and NDT of slender masonry structures summarizing and discussing the different experimental techniques used. With respect to the dynamic testing, Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) by accelerometers is the mostly frequent used technique by scholars, but other promising methods such as radar interferometry are also reported. This overall discussion is concluded with a short review of some examples on numerical structural health assessment and signal processing tools. An inclusive list of papers is provided describing the most important slender masonry structures characteristics, natural frequencies, experimental and numerical techniques employed and reference values. This paper, set on a practical perspective, is expected to be of interest to those researchers and practitioners who require an extensive and up-to-date review of this topic.
... Codes should reflect the most reliable procedures that can be developed according to the state-ofthe-art in seismic engineering." Effectively, for "nonengineered" structures this has not been undertaken to date, and therefore the authors of this paper have started a longterm research program with the aim of upgrading the knowledge and improving the seismic resilience of rubble stone masonry buildings, to be published in a series of papers that already includes a literature review of practical manuals, a detailed cost analysis (Schildkamp and Araki, 2019a;2019b) and an overview of design specifications in national seismic and masonry codes worldwide (Schildkamp et al., 2020). ...
... This is done for those countries where this technique is still allowed, plus selected countries where it potentially could (or should) be reintroduced based on current practices and needs. The analyses are carried out with specific focus on "nominally reinforced masonry (NRM) that consists of random rubble stone with cement mortar and wooden diaphragms," as detailed in Schildkamp et al. (2020). Random rubble refers to stones that are uncut, unsquared, irregularly shaped and un-dimensioned, whereas NRM refers to loadbearing masonry walls with the inclusion of nominal reinforcements; in this case continuous horizontal bands. ...
... The determined seismic demands must be checked against the corresponding structural capacities in relation to the mechanical properties, to be published in follow-up papers. main dimensions for rubble stone masonry buildings, and globally the differences vary greatly (Schildkamp et al., 2020). Since the projects of SSF in Nepal have withstood the 2015 Gorkha earthquakes without any significant damage, the Nepalese context is taken as the reference for the development of two case study buildings in rubble stone masonry with cement mortar. ...
Full base shear seismic demand analyses with calculated examples for heavy stone masonry buildings are not present in the literature. To address this shortcoming, analyses and calculations are performed on nominally reinforced rubble stone masonry house and school designs, as typically built in Nepal. The seismic codes are literally applied for countries where the technique is still allowed (Nepal, India, China, Tajikistan, Iran, Croatia), or should be reintroduced based on current practices (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey). First, this paper compares the base shear formulas and the inertia forces distributions of these codes, as well as material densities, seismic weights, seismic zoning, natural periods of vibration, response spectra, importance factors and seismic load combinations. Large differences between approaches and coefficients are observed. Then, by following Equivalent Lateral Force-principles for Ultimate Limit State verifications (10%PE50y), the base shear and story shears are calculated for a design peak ground acceleration of 0.20 g, as well as the effects of critical load combinations on the forces and moments acting on the lateral-resisting elements. It is concluded that Pakistan has the most tolerant code, Nepal represents an average value, whereas India and China are most conservative toward the case study buildings. Overall, it is observed that heavy-masonry-light-floor systems with negligible diaphragm action behave different under seismic motion than most other building typologies. Given the observations in this paper, the applicability of conventional ELF, S-ELF and S-Modal methods for heavy masonry buildings is questionable. The codes however do not introduce modified approaches that address these differences. Possible implications of the exclusion of plinth masonry and large portions of seismic weight need further assessment and validation, for which different (possibly more sophisticated) concepts must be considered, such as the equivalent frame method or distributed mass system. Since Nepal allows stone masonry in areas with higher seismic hazard levels >0.40 g (opposed to India <0.12 and China <0.15 g), their code is taken as the reference and starting point for follow-up research, which aims to verify the seismic demand by performing seismic capacity checks of the masonry piers and spandrels. The paper ends with an appeal for global collaboration under the research project SMARTnet.
The present paper adopts a sophisticated numerical modeling technique using a plasticity-based simplified micro-model method and the extended finite element method for simulating the nonlinear behaviour of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls with different types of sizes and positions of openings. The validity of this model has been proven by comparing the results subjected to a similar loading obtained by the experimental approach. Thereafter, the validated computational model is used to study the behaviour of the 3D URM wall model with different opening percentages. The effect of the position of the openings is also studied. Further, the load–displacement curves are drawn to provide a clear idea about the load-carrying capacity of the same URM walls. The hysteretic behaviour obtained in each model under cyclic loading gives an idea about the energy dissipation capacity of each of the models studied. The same walls are analyzed by strengthening the walls with two cost-effective materials, wire mesh and polypropylene bands. Since the study on lateral behaviour of masonry walls, particularly regarding the effect of area and the position of the opening, is very rarely available, the present detailed study is believed to be helpful in reducing the seismic vulnerability of actual masonry structures, which always have openings with different sizes and positions.
