Damage as a measure for earthquake-resistant design of masonry structures: Slovenian experience

The results of lateral resistance tests of masonry walls and shaking table tests of a number of models of masonry buildings of various structural configurations, built with various materials in different construction systems, have been analyzed to find a correlation between the occurrence of different grades of damage to structural elements, characteristic limit states, and lateral displacement capacity. On the basis of correlation between acceptable level of damage and displacement capacity, it has been shown that the range of elastic force reduction factor values used to determine the design seismic loads for different masonry construction systems proposed by the recently adopted European standard Euro-code 8 EN-1998-1 for earthquake resistant design are adequate. By using the recommended design values, satisfactory performance of the masonry buildings that have been analyzed may be expected when subjected to design intensity earthquakes with respect to both the no-collapse and damage-limitation requirements.