Performance Evaluation of Masonry Buildings Using a Probabilistic Approach

In many countries, there are traditional houses made of stone, adobe and brick, which perform
relatively weakly in earthquakes. To mitigate casualties in future earthquakes, it is necessary to
evaluate the current status of these buildings and propose eective methods to retrot them. One
method of evaluating the performance of buildings in earthquakes is through the use of fragility
curves. These diagrams show the probability of exceeding a specic state of damage versus
seismic intensity parameters, such as PGA, MMI, Ia, CAV etc. Fragility curves will provide
an important basis for analytical methods, based on probabilistic approaches. Much work has
been done on bridges, concrete and steel structures, while limited studies have been conducted
on masonry buildings. Considering the prevalence of these buildings and the high seismic activity
in some regions where they are built, fragility curves for dierent types of masonry buildings are
developed in this research. The results obtained show the probable damage to those types of
masonry building chosen in this research for dierent earthquake intensities and restates that, by
providing horizontal and vertical ties and retrotting these buildings, by the methods proposed
in some seismic code provisions (such as FEMA 356 and 357), their behavior in earthquakes are
apparently eected and structural damage reduced. Furthermore, results indicate that soil type
does not signicantly in
uence the seismic behavior of masonry buildings.