Displacement-based assessment of the seismic capacity of unreinforced masonry walls in bending

Abstract

In this paper, the displacement-based analysis procedure for the seismic assessment of unreinforced masonry walls in bending is refi ned to account for the dynamic response behaviour of the masonry building. The fi ltering effects in a masonry building are fi rst determined in accordance with the in-plane force-displacement properties of the supporting walls. The fi ltered excitations transmitted to the upper fl oors in the building are then used for analysis of the walls’ out-of-plane fl exural behaviour using traditional force-based (static and dynamic) analysis techniques. These results are then compared to displacement-based analytical predictions to highlight the potential conservatism ..