Seismic vulnerability of low -rise buildings in Cuenca

Although 50 % of the buildings are of low -altitude masonry, little information about the mechanical characteristics of the materials, the configuration of the buildings and their structural effects are available. This lack of information increases the level of uncertainty in determining the structural resistance of buildings. Currently, to approximate these characteristics, calibrated numerical models of simple experimental tests are applied, which characterize masonry. Several of these methods (macro, meso or micro) are described in the literature. The objective of this project is to apply mesoscopic models (finite elements), validated from laboratory tests on masonry durets, to determine the mechanical parameters of the walls and therefore the resistant capacity of masonry buildings. Tests include simple and diagonal compression tests. The results will serve to determine the probability functions of the elastic module and the cohesion of the Muretes, from which the parameters for the modeling of the muretes will be defined. This will allow creating models with a predominant architectural configuration, which will be static and dynamically analyzed. Additionally, the seismic risk will be quantified based on the maximum displacements produced by selected earthquakes from elastic spectra of our area. The results will allow estimating the vulnerability of basin buildings. The procedure can be extended for the vulnerability analysis of other cities.

XVI UNIVERSITY RESEARCH COMPETITION