Overview

STAND4HERITAGE ambitiously engages the definition of new standards for the seismic assessment of built cultural masonry heritage. More specifically, the project is focused on the out-of-plane behaviour of masonry, which is critical for their seismic resistance. The research project follows an exhaustive scheme from the input signals to the seismic performance of masonry specimen. More specifically, it is composed of 4 intertwined parts. 1) SEISMIC SIGNAL: Generation of a huge data set of ground motions, based on real earthquakes, representative parameter variations and Monte-Carlo simulations. 2) EXPERIMENTS: Generation of a huge experimental data sets of various masonry specimens (mortared, plastered, dry-stacked, rocking blocks), with variable boundary conditions loaded by different input signals. These experiments also includes a lot of repeatability tests. Damage progression is investigated through state-of-the-art methods (DIC system, sonic testing, infrared thermography). 3) NUMERICAL MODEL: Development and validation of intermediate modelling approachs (Rocking dynamics, macro-element model) based on the experimental results. These intermediate approachs with low computational costs are more suitable for practical assessments. They also allow for plenty of simulations to be run considering variable conditions 4) GUIDELINES: Based on these simulations (3), correlations between input signal, caracteristics of the masonry structure, the progressive damage of the masonry and the fulfillment of specific limit states will be investigated and transcripted into guidelines for professional workers. The final goal is to guide whether a maintenance/repair operation is needed or not.