Publication

Shake table testing of aggregate masonry buildings

Katrin Beyer, Igor Tomic, Andrea Penna
2020
Conference Papers

Abstract

Masonry building aggregates can be found throughout historical city centers of Europe. Adjacent buildings have often developed during the long densification process, without consistent planning or engineering. It is common for neighboring units to share a structural wall with the connection between the units ensured through interlocking stones or a dry joint. Another consequence of the gradual development through the years are the different material properties, distributions of openings, and different roof and floor heights of the neighboring units. The difference in properties and the uncertainty related to the connection between the units leads to difficulties when modelling the seismic response. For that reason, units of an aggregate are often modelled as separate or perfectly connected. Both simplifications can lead to an incorrect estimation of the aggregate response. One of the principal reasons impeding the advancements in this area is the lack of large-scale experimental campaigns, due to the size and the cost of such campaigns. For that reason, the project AIMS (Seismic Testing of Adjacent Interacting Masonry Structures), included in the H2020 project SERA has the objective to provide the experimental data on the behaviour of an aggregate of two stone masonry buildings under bi-directional horizontal acceleration. The test unit is constructed at half scale, with one storey building and a two-storey building. The buildings share one common wall and the façade walls are connected by dry joints. Units have different floor heights and floor beam orientations, leading to a complex dynamic response. The shake table test is conducted at the LNEC seismic testing facility. Extensive instrumentation, including an optical displacement measurement system, displacement transducers, and accelerometers are used to provide information on the force-displacement response. Special attention is devoted to the interface opening and the global behaviour in relation to the interface separation.

Official source

Katrin Beyer, Igor Tomic, Andrea Penna
2020
Conference Papers

Abstract

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Masonry

Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound and pasted together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the building units (stone, brick, etc.) themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks and building stone such as marble, granite, and limestone, cast stone, concrete blocks, glass blocks, and adobe. Masonry is generally a highly durable form of construction.

Centimetre–gram–second system of units

The centimetre–gram–second system of units (abbreviated CGS or cgs) is a variant of the metric system based on the centimetre as the unit of length, the gram as the unit of mass, and the second as the unit of time. All CGS mechanical units are unambiguously derived from these three base units, but there are several different ways in which the CGS system was extended to cover electromagnetism. The CGS system has been largely supplanted by the MKS system based on the metre, kilogram, and second, which was in turn extended and replaced by the International System of Units (SI).

Unit testing

In computer programming, unit testing is a software testing method by which individual units of source code—sets of one or more computer program modules together with associated control data, usage procedures, and operating procedures—are tested to determine whether they are fit for use. It is a standard step in development and implementation approaches such as Agile. Before unit testing, capture and replay testing tools were the norm. In 1997, Kent Beck and Erich Gamma developed and released JUnit, a unit test framework that became popular with Java developers.

Related publications (29)

Seismic Testing of Adjacent Interacting Masonry Structures – Analysis of a Blind Prediction

Katrin Beyer, Andrea Penna, Igor Tomic

Masonry aggregates, which emerged as layouts of cities and villages became denser, make up historical centres all over the world. In these aggregates, neighbouring structures may share structural walls that are joined at the interfaces by mortar or interlo ...

Springer2024

Numerical Modeling of FRP-Strengthened Masonry Structures Using Equivalent Frame Models

Katrin Beyer, Francesco Vanin, Ivana Bozulic

The present study focuses on enhancing the seismic resistance of existing masonry structures. To that aim, the use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) strengthening serves to improve structural behaviour by attaching FRP strips to the masonry walls. Despite ...

Springer2024

Experimental Investigation on Size-Effect of Rubble Stone Masonry Walls Under In-Plane Horizontal Loading: Overview and Preliminary Results

Katrin Beyer, Savvas Saloustros

Rubble stone masonry is a common construction typology of historical city centres and vernacular architecture. While past earthquakes have shown that it is one of the most vulnerable masonry construction typologies, there are few experimental campaigns giv ...

2024