Investigation of Rubble-Masonry Wall Construction Practice in Latium, Central Italy

Abstract

The 2016-2017 Central Italy seismic sequence severely affected existing unreinforced-masonry constructions in four regions. Those in Latium region proved the most prone to fragmentation because of an unfortunate combination of undressed natural stone units and very low lime content in mortar. Within the framework of a research project funded by the regional government, shake table tests are planned to investigate masonry disintegration as well as possible intervention techniques, as described in a companion paper. All specimens will have natural stone units retrieved from the debris in Collespada, a settlement of the municipality of Accumoli, one of the most affected by the seismic sequence. To push further the representativeness of the specimens with respect to field conditions, wall geometry, masonry fabric and mortar recipe are carefully designed. The wall thickness will be approximately equal to 0.5 m, close to average thickness surveyed in the area. Following the survey of several vertical sections of actual masonry walls, the specimens will present unconnected external leaves with a limited nucleus. Based on tests on mortar sampled from collapsed buildings, mortars will be prepared by a part of natural lime every nine parts of sand. Shear tests on sampled mortar delivered apparent cohesion and friction coefficient that are used as preliminary values of a finite-discrete element model, which can account for masonry fragmentation in dynamic non-linear analyses. The numerical model was tested under the envisioned sequence of records, belonging to the Amatrice station and related to the East component, approximately fault normal, of the two main seismic events, 24 August and 30 October, 2016.

Full document

References

[1] Azzaro, R., Tertulliani, A., Bernardini, F., Camassi, R., Del Mese, S., Ercolani, E., Graziani, L., Locati, M., Maramai, A., Pessina, V., Rossi, A., Rovida, A., Albini, P., Arcoraci, L., Berardi, M., Bignami, C., Brizuela, B., Castellano, C., Castelli, V., D’Amico, S., D’Amico, V., Fodarella, A., Leschiutta, I., Piscini, A., Sbarra, M., The 24 august 2016 Amatrice earthquake: Macroseismic survey in the damage area and EMS intensity assessment. Ann Geophys (2016), 59, 1–10.

[2] Tertulliani, A., Azzaro, R., QUEST - Rilievo Macrosismico per i Terremoti Nell’Italia Centrale. Aggiornamento Dopo Le Scosse Del 26 e 30 Ottobre 2016. Roma (2016).

[3] Fiorentino, G., Forte, A., Pagano, E., Sabetta, F., Baggio, C., Lavorato, D., Nuti, C., Santini, S., Damage patterns in the town of Amatrice after August 24th 2016 Central Italy earthquakes. Bull Earthq Eng (2018), 16, 1399–1423.

[4] Sisti, R., Di Ludovico, M., Borri, A., Prota, A., Damage assessment and the effectiveness of prevention: the response of ordinary unreinforced masonry buildings in Norcia during the Central Italy 2016–2017 seismic sequence. Bull Earthq Eng (2019), 17, 5609–5629.

[5] Penna, A., Morandi, P., Rota, M., Manzini, C. F., da Porto, F., Magenes, G., Performance of masonry buildings during the Emilia 2012 earthquake. Bull Earthq Eng (2014), 12, 2255–2273.

[6] Augenti, N., Parisi, F., Learning from Construction Failures due to the 2009 L’Aquila, Italy, Earthquake. J Perform Constr Facil (2010), 24, 536–555.

[7] De Felice, G., Out-of-plane seismic capacity of masonry depending on wall section morphology. Int J Archit Herit (2011), 5, 466–482.

[8] Doherty, K., Griffith, M. C., Lam, N., Wilson, J., Displacement-based seismic analysis for out-of-plane bending of unreinforced masonry walls. Earthq Eng Struct Dyn (2002), 31, 833–850.

[9] Lourenço, P. B., Mendes, N., Ramos, L. F., Oliveira, D. V., Analysis of masonry structures without box behavior. Int J Archit Herit (2011), 5, 369–382.

[10] Giuffrè, A., A Mechanical Model for Statics and Dynamics of Historical Masonry Buildings. Springer, Wien (1996).

[11] de Felice, G., De Santis, S., Lourenço, P. B., Mendes, N., Methods and Challenges for the Seismic Assessment of Historic Masonry Structures. Int J Archit Herit (2017), 11, 143–160.

[12] Mollaioli, F., AlShawa, O., Liberatore, L., Liberatore, D., Sorrentino, L., Seismic demand of the 2016-2017 Central Italy Earthquakes. Bull Earthq Eng (2019), 17, 5399–5427.

[13] De Santis, S., AlShawa, O., De Canio, G., Forliti, S., Liberatore, D., Meriggi, P., Roselli, I., Sorrentino, L., de Felice, G., Design of Shake Table Tests of Multi-Leaf Masonry Walls before and after Retrofitting. 12th International Conference on Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions. (2020).

[14] Borri, A., Corradi, M., Castori, G., De Maria, A., A method for the analysis and classification of historic masonry. Bull Earthq Eng (2015), 13, 2647–2665.

[15] Rovero, L., Alecci, V., Mechelli, J., Tonietti, U., De Stefano, M., Masonry walls with irregular texture of L’Aquila (Italy) seismic area: validation of a method for the evaluation of masonry quality. Mater Struct Constr (2016), 49, 2297–2314.

[16] Sorrentino, L., Reconstruction Plans After the 2009 L’Aquila Earthquake. From Building Performance to Historical Centre Performance. 9th International Conference on Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions, Mexico City, 14–17 October. (2014).

[17] Roselli, G., Mirabile Gattia, D., AlShawa, O., Cinaglia, P., Di Girolami, G., Francola, C., Persia, F., Petrucci, E., Piloni, R., Scognamiglio, F., Sorrentino, L., Zamponi, S., Liberatore, D., Mortar analysis of historic buildings damaged by recent earthquakes in Italy. Eur Phys J Plus (2019), 134, 540.

[18] Mirabile Gattia, D., Roselli, G., Alshawa, O., Cinaglia, P., Di Girolami, G., Francola, C., Persia, F., Petrucci, E., Piloni, R., Scognamiglio, F., Sorrentino, L., Zamponi, S., Liberatore, D., Characterization of historical masonry mortar from sites damaged during the central italy 2016-2017 seismic sequence: the case study of arquata del tronto. Ann Geophys (2019), 62, SE341.1–11.

[19] Marotta, A., Liberatore, D., Sorrentino, L., Historical Building Codes issued after the strong Italian earthquakes of Norcia (1859) and Ischia (1883). Ann Geophys Geophys (2019), 62, SE337.1-13.

[20] EN 1015-11, Methods of Test for Mortar for Masonry. Part 11: Determination of Flexural and Compressive Strength of Hardened Mortar. European Committee for Standardization, Brussels (2006).

[21] De Santis, S., De Canio, G., de Felice, G., Meriggi, P., Roselli, I., Out-of-plane seismic retrofitting of masonry walls with Textile Reinforced Mortar composites. Bull Earthq Eng (2019), 17, 6265–6300.

[22] Hallquist, J., LS-DYNA Theory Manual. Livermore Software Technology Corporation, Livermore (2006).

[23] AlShawa, O., Sorrentino, L., Liberatore, D., Simulation Of Shake Table Tests on Out- of-Plane Masonry Buildings. Part (II): Combined Finite-Discrete Elements. Int J Archit Herit (2017), 11, 79–93.

[24] Meriggi, P., de Felice, G., De Santis, S., Gobbin, F., Mordanova, A., Pantò, B., Distinct Element Modelling of Masonry Walls under Out-Of-Plane Seismic Loading. Int J Archit Herit (2019), 13, 1110–1123.