In the wake of recent strong earthquakes in Croatia, there is a need for a detailed and more comprehensive post-earthquake damage assessment. Given that masonry structures are highly vulnerable to horizontal actions caused by earthquakes and a majority of the Croatian building stock is made of masonry, this field is particularly important for Croatia. In this paper, a complete assessment of an educational building in Zagreb Lower Town is reported. An extensive program of visual inspection and geometrical surveys has been planned and performed. Additionally, an in situ shear strength test is presented. After extensive fieldwork, collected data and results were input in 3Muri software for structural modeling. Moreover, a non-linear static (pushover) analysis was performed to individuate the possible failure mechanisms and to compare real-life damage to software results.
In 2020, Croatia was struck by two catastrophic earthquakes, resulting in more than 50,000 damaged structures. The majority of these are masonry buildings, but there are a number of reinforced concrete structures that suffered moderate to extensive damage. In this paper, the seismic condition assessment and upgrading of existing RC structures are presented with a case study building in Zagreb. The assessment procedure includes initial visual inspection, rapid preliminary evaluation, detailed in situ measurements, and non- and semi-destructive methods. New technologies were applied and followed by numerical modeling and verifications. Strengthening proposals are made that respect owner needs and the needs for the energy retrofitting of the existing RC building. As the integrated approach should be respected in the renovation of existing buildings, this case study can represent an example of good practice in the process of seismic and energy retrofitting.
According to the systematic research of Statistical Yearbooks, Croatia's national building stock consists of approx. residential 800000 buildings and 125000 non-residential buildings. More than 75 % of the building stock is older than 30 years, an age which often requires renovation or modification of buildings. More than 40 % of the building stock is older than 50 years, meaning that the structure's service life is expired. In Croatia's building sector, up to 40 % of the expenses are spent for the rehabilitation, modification, and demolition of existing structures.
After a long period of inactivity, strong seismic events occurred in Croatia. Due to the extensive damage caused by the recent earthquakes, a significant phase of reconstruction and strengthening follows. Determining the actual seismic behavior of existing masonry structures is of great importance for future management and the economical and purposeful strengthening of the load-bearing structure. Modern software solutions and design methods are an essential part of the assessment, but they are only as useful as long as the input parameters are reliable. This is where in-situ test methods come into play, providing useful information about the mechanical properties of the structure. In the paper, the flat-jack method and sonic pulse velocity method are described in more detail and the results of certain tests are presented and compared.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.