Work Package 1

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Work Package 1

This WP addresses the influence of the seismic signal on the out-of-plane seismic response and capacity of masonry structures. In particular, it investigates the large diversity (in terms of duration, frequency content, correlation between phases) of earthquakes that can affect a given site.

Seismic demand and capacity are typically treated as independent variables in structural assessment. However, a given site can be affected by earthquakes with very different characteristics in terms of frequency content, duration, correlation between phases and components. The uncertainty associated with the seismic signal input is affected by epistemic and aleatory uncertainties, which are not possible to capture using deterministic analysis (only with stochastic analysis).

WP1 includes several interrelated tasks. WP1a involves the selection of real spectrum-compatible seismic records with the acceleration response spectrum prescribed by EC8 and in agreement with the requirements of “seismic compatibility” (i.e. consistent with the seismogenic settings of relevant regions). Real accelerograms will be used since they are more realistic than artificial or synthetic records, namely in terms of frequency content, duration, number of cycles, correlation among vertical and horizontal components and energy content.

Stochastic simulations will subsequently be employed to generate a representative variation of the ground motions (WP1b). To ensure representativeness, ground motions will be considered for both stiff and soft soil scenarios. This will allow simulation of seismic signal variability representative of different regions. Finally, ground motion records will be processed and sampled (WP1c) so that they can be used in WP2 and WP3.