Numerical simulation of shaking table tests on a URM cavity-wall building

This paper presents part of a research project that aims at investigating the seismic behaviour of a particular typology of Dutch residential buildings, the so-called terraced houses. Due to lack of reference tests, the seismic behaviour of such structures is poorly understood. A series of shaking table tests was conducted on a full-scale two-storey unreinforced masonry building with cavity walls at the EUCENTRE laboratory. The specimen was subjected to several tests of increasing intensity with the objective of ascertaining the ultimate capacity and failure modes of the structure. In the interest of generating a simple numerical model that would allow repetitive dynamic analyses able to capture the nonlinear behaviour of the masonry components and the diaphragms, the seismic response of the full-scale specimen was simulated with the aid of an equivalent frame modelling approach, making use of macroelements. Based on the outcomes of the laboratory tests, a MDOF model of the tested building was calibrated. This allowed studying its sensitivity to salient parameters. Among others, the degree of connection between walls and the in-plane stiffness of the roof diaphragm were investigated, since they significantly influenced the seismic behaviour of the structure. In this context, some of the capabilities, as well as the limitations of the employed modelling approach in reproducing different aspects of the experimental response, are highlighted and further investigated.