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This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in International Journal of Architectural Heritage on 2022, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15583058.2022.2096513 This paper presents the historical development of the vertical extensions of unreinforced masonry buildings in the Eixample district of Barcelona and their impact on the seismic behaviour. Existing masonry buildings of Eixample present significant seismic risk because, despite the low to moderate seismic hazard of Barcelona, they show a marked vulnerability given their average height of six storeys and the substantial slenderness of the walls. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the vertical extensions, known as remuntes in Catalan, were a common solution to the increasing demographic demand of the city. In their majority, these vertical extensions add a structural irregularity that represents a potential vulnerability factor not yet investigated. The present study focuses on Eixample’s remuntes, including their historical development, the description of their structural features, and the identification of their most representative configurations in the existing building stock. A seismic analysis based on the Finite Element Method is presented on a reference model without extensions and three others with the most recurrent configurations of remuntes. The seismic response is investigated through pushover analysis. The results provide a better understanding of the negative impact of the vertical extensions on the seismic performance. This work was supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government (MCIU) [RTI2018-099589-B-I00], the State Agency of Research (AEI) [RTI2018-099589-B-I00] and the European Regional Development Fund [RTI2018-099589-B-I00]; through the project SEVERUS (Multilevel evaluation of seismic vulnerability and risk mitigation of masonry buildings in resilient historical urban centres [RTI2018-099589-B-I00]; Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca; MSc SAHC Consortium scholarship; Sapienza University of Rome.

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.

Trabajar en proyectos que lidien con estructuras históricas conlleva una serie de desafíos específicos que resultan de tratar de encontrar un equilibrio entre el respeto a los principios de conservación del patrimonio y garantizar la seguridad estructural. El principal problema es que, en muchas ocasiones, la información existente sobre la estructura es poca o ninguna. Las incógnitas e incertidumbres sobre la estructura existente pueden estar relacionados con muchos aspectos, desde los materiales de construcción hasta las conexiones entre elementos estructurales. El éxito de cualquier intervención en el edificio patrimonial, sea una medida de refuerzo local o rehabilitación más extensa, dependerá en gran medida del buen entendimiento de las incógnitas y problemas específicos de la estructura. Con ese fin, es esencial conocer las herramientas disponibles para obtener información relevante sobre la estructura que, dadas las características patrimoniales, deben ser poco o nada invasivas. Este artículo presenta algunas preguntas comunes relacionadas con el diagnóstico estructural que suelen surgir en un proyecto de conservación. Usando casos de estudio, el artículo analiza la aplicabilidad de diferentes herramientas, específicamente varios tipos de ensayos no destructivos y varios métodos de análisis estructural, para tratar de contestar a dichas preguntas.

The type of floor system has a decisive role in the seismic performance of unreinforced masonry buildings. The in-plane stiffness of the floors has to be adequately represented in the numerical modelling of existing buildings, as it can influence their seismic capacity. This paper investigates the seismic behaviour of one-way arch floor systems composed of steel or timber beams, and ceramic tile vaults. The main objective of the research is to provide a numerical procedure for the simplified modelling of jack arch floor systems in the seismic assessment of unreinforced masonry buildings. The presented approach aims to provide values for the orthotropic properties of simplified floor models composed of elastic 2D shell elements. The orthotropic elastic properties are computed and calibrated by means of comparisons with detailed 3D nonlinear models of the floors. The case study is a multi-storey existing masonry building of the historical “Eixample” district in Barcelona, which includes one-way arch floor systems. The Finite Element Method has been used for the numerical simulation of the seismic performance through nonlinear static (pushover) analyses. The results of the study contribute to a better understanding of the effect of the behaviour of one-way floors with steel or timber beams and tile vaults on the seismic response of masonry buildings. This work provides indicative values for the proper modelling of these particular floor slabs. The proposed methodology is also applicable to the numerical simulation of any other one-way floor system. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government (MCIU), the State Agency of Research (AEI), as well as that of the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) through the project SEVERUS (Multilevel evaluation of seismic vulnerability and risk mitigation of masonry buildings in resilient historical urban centres, ref. num. RTI2018-099589-B-I00). The first author gratefully acknowledges the AGAUR agency of the Generalitat de Catalunya for the financial support of her predoctoral grant. Peer Reviewed Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.4 - Redoblar els esforços per a protegir i salvaguardar el patrimoni cultural i natural del món Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.5 - Per a 2030, reduir de forma significativa el nombre de morts causades per desastres, inclosos els relacio­nats amb l’aigua, i de persones afectades per aquests, i reduir substancialment les pèrdues econòmiques directes causades per desastres relacionades amb el producte interior brut mundial, fent un èmfasi especial en la protecció de les persones pobres i de les persones en situacions de vulnerabilitat Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima::13.1 - Enfortir la resiliència i la capacitat d’adaptació als riscos relacionats amb el clima i els desastres naturals a tots els països Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles