Masonry Construction in Active Seismic Regions

During earthquakes, masonry buildings are the most affected, and consequently, damage to these buildings leads to massive loss of life and property. Masonry buildings comprise probably the greatest share of overall housing stock, and in turn, understanding their performance during earthquakes is a pivotal problem in seismic regions. Masonry Construction in Active Seismic Regions presents details on the kinds of masonry building found in seismic regions of the world. The title describes interventions, such as retrofitted solutions, dynamic identification, and improved construction after earthquakes, that are equally applicable to regions of moderate and high seismicity. The book covers representative masonry buildings from active seismic regions, the material properties of masonry construction, numerical modelling techniques and computational advances, seismic performance of non-engineered masonry buildings, resilience in typical construction, retrofitting, and the cultural values and structural characterization of heritage masonry buildings in active seismic regions. This book is unique in its global and systematic coverage of masonry construction in seismic regions.

• Identifies the material properties of masonry construction from a seismic perspective
• Covers representative masonry buildings from active seismic regions, providing a benchmark to understand existing building stocks
• Provides numerical modelling techniques and reviews computational advances, including a large test database
• Details the seismic performance of non-engineered masonry buildings, as well as the cultural values and structural characterisation of heritage masonry constructions
• Analyses typical or vernacular constructions which have earthquake resilient features, such as Dhajji-Dewari, Borbone, Pombalino, and Himis

Professor Rajesh Rupakhety is a Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty, and Director of Research at the Earthquake Engineering Research Centre at the University of Iceland. He obtained his PhD from the University of Iceland, in earthquake engineering. He has a wide variety of research interests, mainly in solid and fluid mechanics, and in engineering seismology. He is very active in the field, and has worked on seismic design provisions for hydropower and wind plants in Iceland. He has published widely on construction and seismology.

Dipendra Gautam is a researcher in structural earthquake engineering. He has published more than 30 papers and refereed book chapters in top-tier journals and edited volumes. He works in the range of structural earthquake engineering including structural dynamics, seismic vulnerability and reliability analysis, sustainable structural engineering, vernacular seismic resistant construction technologies, risk assessment, among others. He has experience in working after 2011 Eastern Nepal earthquake, 2015 Gorkha earthquake sequence, and 2016 Central Italy earthquake sequence.