NAM Project

The project’s main objective is that of increasing the knowledge on the seismic response of unreinforced masonry (URM) and precast buildings typically found in the province of Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands, which in recent years has been hit by earthquakes of relatively low magnitude related to gas extraction activities.

To this end, the following combined set of experimental and numerical activities has been planned:

• Validation against experimental benchmarks, as well as through comparison with numerical models developed by other research groups, of macro-element models of URM buildings typical of the Groningen region.
• Development of detailed finite element models of precast panels, and its connections, typical of precast construction in the Groningen region.
• Experimental in situ-testing of URM buildings in the Groningen region.
• Cyclic and dynamic laboratory testing of URM and precast components and sub-assemblages.
• Cyclic and shake-table testing of full-scale masonry and RC precast houses.

The project started on May 2014 and is currently envisaged to be completed by the end of 2019. A number of deliverables have been produced, in the form of numerical models, research reports and experimental tests, some of which can be accessed below:

• Videos of cyclic testing of URM walls and precast panels
• Videos of URM walls two-way out-of-plane dynamic testing
• Videos of URM terraced house shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD1)
• Videos of URM detached house shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD2)
• Videos of cast-in-place tunnel building under pseudo-static cyclic testing (EUC-BUILD3)
• Videos of precast RC wall-slab-wall structure shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD5)
• Videos of URM terraced house shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD6)
• Videos of retrofitted URM terraced house shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD7)
• Report on precast panels testing
• Report on in-situ URM material testing
• Report on horizontal bending testing of URM panels
• Report on cyclic testing of URM piers subjected to high axial loading
• Report on cyclic testing of U-shaped URM walls made of calcium-silicate bricks and blocks
• Report on URM walls two-way out-of-plane dynamic testing
• Report on URM terraced house shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD1)
• Report on URM detached house shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD2)
• Report on cyclic testing of cast-in-place “tunnel building” (EUC-BUILD3)
• Report on cyclic testing of precast “tunnel building” (EUC-BUILD4)
• Report on shake-table testing of precast “tunnel building” (EUC-BUILD5)
• Report on URM terraced house shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD6)
• Report on retrofitted URM terraced house shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD7)
• Report on shake-table testing of URM houses under multi-axial motion (EUC-BUILD8.x)
• Report on URM terraced house collapse shake-table testing (LNEC-BUILD1)
• Report on collapse shake-table testing of a timber roof substructure with URM gable walls (LNEC-BUILD2)
• Report on URM detached house collapse shake-table testing (LNEC-BUILD3)
• Paper on cyclic testing of precast panels
• Paper on cyclic tensile testing of three-way precast panels connection
• Paper on friction testing of fabric felt used in precast structures
• Paper on testing programme in support of seismic risk analysis of URM buildings
• Paper on URM mortar joints expansion testing
• Paper on URM walls one-way out-of-plane dynamic testing
• Paper on URM walls two-way out-of-plane dynamic testing
• Paper on dataset from URM walls two-way out-of-plane dynamic testing
• Paper on two-way out-of-plane dynamic testing of URM walls under multi-axial motion
• Paper on dataset from two-way out-of-plane dynamic testing of URM walls under multi-axial motion
• Paper on cyclic response of masonry piers retrofitted with timber frames and boards
• Paper on URM terraced house shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD1)
• Paper on URM detached house shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD2)
• Paper on dataset from URM detached house shake-table testing (EUC-BUILD2)
• Paper on cyclic testing of cast-in-place “tunnel building” (EUC-BUILD3)
• Paper on cyclic testing of precast “tunnel building” (EUC-BUILD4)
• Paper on dynamic testing of precast “tunnel building” (EUC-BUILD5)
• Paper on collapse shake-table testing of URM terraced house (LNEC-BUILD1)
• Paper on collapse shake-table testing of a timber roof substructure with URM gable walls (LNEC-BUILD2)
• Paper on collapse shake-table testing of URM building with chimneys (LNEC-BUILD3)