Research findings and needs in performance-based seismic assessment of masonry constructions

The implementation of performance-based seismic assessment (PBSA) is still incomplete in the case of masonry structures. Some issues in modeling and treatment of uncertainties are unsolved, even for masonry buildings with box-type global seismic response. This paper addresses some aspects concerning macroelement modeling and PBSA of such buildings. A probabilistic strength domain is proposed for macroelements through Monte Carlo simulations of the main mechanical parameters. The propagation of uncertainties within nonlinear structural analysis is then discussed for a two-story masonry building representative of the southern European residential heritage. The building was subjected to stochastic pushover analyses considering several code-based load cases and uncertain parameters. Analysis results show that uncertainty mainly affects ultimate displacement capacity, whereas conditional spectral acceleration capacity is a less uncertain parameter. Nonetheless, parametric studies are needed to characterize some model uncertainties and demand dispersion measures to derive fragility curves of masonry buildings.