Identification of Suitable Limit States from Nonlinear Dynamic Analyses of Masonry Structures

Performance-based earthquake engineering, developed over the last decades for the design and assessment of other structures, can also be applied for masonry structures if the particularities of masonry are incorporated into the procedure. According to this methodology, structural performance can be assessed according to damage states which are identified through displacement/damage indicators. While various methods for the identification of limit states from the results of nonlinear static analyses exist, the identification of damage states from the results of nonlinear dynamic analyses is still uncertain. This article investigates a number of criteria allowing to identify the attainment of significant limit states from the results of time history analyses, in terms of appropriately identified response quantities. These criteria are applied to five building prototypes and their results are compared. A comparison with the limit states derived from nonlinear static analyses is also made.