Numerical Study of Pier-Wall Connections in Typical Dutch URM Buildings

In recent years, the seismic risk in the north of the Netherlands has increased due to gas extraction. Since 2014, the Delft University of Technology started a research program to assess the seismic response of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. The Dutch URM buildings are characterized by slender piers and transverse walls. In common practice, the connections between piers and transverse walls are often modelled as rigid, but in real structures these connections may exhibit different behaviour. Especially, since the 1980s, calcium silicate element masonry has been commonly used in Dutch buildings, and vertical continuous joints are present between transverse walls. For this reason, it appears essential to assess the connection strength properties, since its failure can significantly reduce the seismic performance of the entire structure. The first part of this work investigates and compares different numerical approaches to describe the nonlinear behaviour of masonry under lateral loads, simulating seismic action. The second part specifically focuses on the critical issues related to the modelling of vertical connections of Dutch URM buildings. A sensitivity study of the frictional parameters is performed to analyze the influence of the strength of the glued connection on the global response of the URM structure.