Shake table testing of a half-scale stone masonry building aggregate

Masonry aggregates have developed throughout city centres of Europe due to a centuries-long densification process that generally lacked consistent planning or engineering. Adjacent units are connected either through interlocking stones or a layer of mortar. Without interlocking stones, the connection between the units is weak, and an out of-phase response of the units can lead to separation and pounding. Modelling guidelines and code instructions are missing for modelling the interaction of such adjacent units because of scarce experimental data. Therefore, in this study an unreinforced stone masonry aggregate was tested on the bidirectional shake table with an incremental seismic protocol as a part of the SERA AIMS—Adjacent Interacting Masonry Structures project. The aggregate was constructed at half-scale with double-leaf undressed stone masonry without interlocking between the units. Floors were built with timber beams and one layer of planks, with different beam span orientation for each unit. After significant damage, one of the units was retrofitted by anchoring the timber beams to the walls to prevent out-of-plane failure and testing was continued. Significant interaction between the units was observed with specific damage mechanisms. Cracking and separation were observed at the interface in both longitudinal and transverse direction, starting at lower intensity runs and progressively increasing. Bidirectional seismic excitation affected the unit separation, with friction forces seemingly playing a role in the transverse direction. Signs of pounding at the interface were observed during higher intensity runs, together with the formation of a soft storey mechanism at the upper storey of the higher unit. The mechanism involved an out-of-plane response of the shared wall, with a horizontal crack at the height of the interaction. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the seismic behaviour of masonry aggregates.