SEISMAL EVALUATION OF HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF

MAMPOSTERY.
Authors:
Agustín Orduña Bustamante
Guillermo Roeder Carbo
Fernando Peña Mondragón
Publication:
Journal of Seismic Engineering No. 77 71-88
Date:
November 2, 2007
Abstract
In different parts of the world a large number of ancient masonry monuments are preserved
that have survived several times during the times. The fact of having resisted these events
does not imply that they are free of danger, as evidenced by the damage caused in historic
buildings by the earthquakes of Umbria-Marche, Italy in 1997 and 1998, in Puebla and
Turkey in 1999, or in Bam, Iran in 2003
The buildings with heritage value are made of this material (masonry), in the rest of the
world. Therefore, the structural study of masonry constructions subject to seismic actions is
of particular importance.
The structural analysis of historic masonry buildings for seismic evaluation purposes
continues to be a challenge due to a number of factors: (a) low tensile strength with almost-
fragile masonry failure, which implies non-linear behavior from load intensities little; (b)
the great heterogeneity generally presents the difficulty of assigning global mechanical
properties to the material model; (c) the failure due to cutting is not associated, due to the
difference between the angle of expansion and the angle of internal friction of the masonry.
From the point of view of structural engineering, it is advisable to use different analysis
techniques for monuments than for historical centers. A joint monument in a single unit all
its historical and cultural value, as well as its mechanical behavior. It is of fundamental
importance that the seismic evaluation is as accurate as possible and that the campaigns of
characterization of materials are extensive.
The mechanical characteristics of the materials have great variations from one building to
another, and it is practically impossible to make a seismic evaluation of each unit. In this
case, only a limited number of buildings can be studied, selected as critical or
representative. It is common to resort to more practical but possibly less accurate analysis
tools. To reduce the uncertainties arising from the choice of the buildings studied and the

Facultad de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad de Colima, km 9, carr. Colima-Coquimatlán, CP

28400, Coquimatlán, Col
Instituto de Ingeniería, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 04510, México, DF
calculation tool, parametric analyzes are used, which provide a general idea of the
importance of each parameter used in the analyzes.

Históricamente, el empleo de la
mampostería como material de
construcción ha sido muy
importante, particularmente hasta
antes del uso del concreto
reforzado y el acero. De tal
manera que un
porcentaje muy importante de las
construcciones con valor
patrimonial están hechas de este
material, tanto
en México como en el resto del
mundo. Por ello es de especial
importancia el estudio estructural
de

Facultad de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad de Colima, km 9, carr. Colima-Coquimatlán, CP

28400, Coquimatlán, Col
Instituto de Ingeniería, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 04510, México, DF
construcciones de mampostería
sujetas a acciones sísmicas.
Históricamente, el empleo de la
mampostería como material de
construcción ha sido muy
importante, particularmente hasta
antes del uso del concreto
reforzado y el acero. De tal
manera que un
porcentaje muy importante de las
construcciones con valor
patrimonial están hechas de este
material, tanto
en México como en el resto del
mundo. Por ello es de especial
importancia el estudio estructural
de
Facultad de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad de Colima, km 9, carr. Colima-Coquimatlán, CP
28400, Coquimatlán, Col
Instituto de Ingeniería, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 04510, México, DF
construcciones de mampostería
sujetas a acciones sísmicas.

Facultad de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad de Colima, km 9, carr. Colima-Coquimatlán, CP

28400, Coquimatlán, Col
Instituto de Ingeniería, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 04510, México, DF