G.C. MANOS1, L. KOTOULAS2

1) Professor, Laboratory of Strength of materials and Structures, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece. gcmanos@civil.auth.gr

2) Researcher, Laboratory of Strength of materials and Structures, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece. kotoulaslambros@gmail.com

The dynamic and earthquake performance of structural formations made of stone masonry representing Post-Byzantine churches is examined. Such structural formations develop structural problems in the form of damage to the masonry elements. The particular Post-Byzantine Basilica that is examined here developed quite serious damage that is believed to arise from the amplitude of the gravitational and seismic actions combined with the deformability of the foundation, a parameter that is also part of this investigation. In the examined church the stone masonry peripheral walls support a stone masonry vaulting system. The numerical results together with assumed strength values are utilized to predict the behaviour of the various masonry parts in in-plane shear and normal stress as well as out-of-plane flexure. The results include the deformation response as well as the stress response for the peripheral walls and the vaulting system when such a response is maximized. This is done by numerically simulating this church with or without the foundation deformability. It is demonstrated that the foundation deformability partly explains the appearance of the observed structural damage.

Keywords: Post-Byzantine churches, Stone masonry, Dynamic – Earthquake Performance, Foundation Deformability