Experimental Seismic Response of a Half-Scale Stone Masonry Building Aggregate: Effects of Retrofit Strategies

A unidirectional shaking-table test on the half-scale prototype of a natural stone masonry building aggregate was performed as part of an extensive experimental and numerical research project, investigating the seismic vulnerability of historical buildings in the city of Basel, Switzerland. The prototype structure was characterized by architectural and construction details typical of Basel’s heritage residential building stock. The specimen represented a building aggregate consisting of two adjacent structural units, poorly connected on one side as if they were built at different times. The building specimen was three-story high and was built using double-leaf random stone masonry walls with undressed blocks and river pebbles. Timber floors, simply supported by the transverse walls, constituted flexible diaphragms in their plane. The two units were covered by roofs with different truss configurations, pitches, and side-gable wall heights. Steel wall-to-diaphragm connections were pre-installed but not initially fastened to the prototype; similarly, longitudinal and transverse steel tie-rods were also pre-installed at each floor without anchor plates. Both retrofit strategies were activated after a significant damage level was reached during the dynamic tests. This paper describes the seismic behavior of the prototype, analyzing the response of the bare masonry structure at various stages of the incremental dynamic test and investigating the effects of the retrofit interventions. The analysis focuses in particular on the dynamic behavior evolution, on the hysteretic response, and on the lateral displacement demand, in relation to the damage limit states associated with the observed mechanisms.