Experimental and Numerical Results from the Seismic Study of a Masonry Bell Tower

Abstract

This paper describes studies carried out to characterize the seismic behaviour of the San Nicolas bell tower in Valencia (Spain), built of masonry between the 17th and 18th centuries. A complete geometric description of the bell tower was carried out and a numerical model developed to obtain the seismic response and its relationship to the seismic Spanish Standard. The model was first calibrated by means of dynamic tests performed directly on the real structure. The calculations were carried out to fit a non-linear behaviour and a failure criterion which included smeared cracking was considered to model cracks on the tower. Five different synthetic accelerograms were introduced at the tower's base level to represent the seismic forces. The numerical simulations showed satisfactory performance of the tower as to the basic seismic acceleration proposed by the Spanish Standard. The earthquakes were also scaled until high levels of damage were achieved.

Keywords

masonry bell tower non-linear analysis finite element method dynamic study

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