Seismic Performance Assessment of a Historical Masonry Structure Using Spectrally Matched Records of the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake and Conservation-Compatible Retrofitting Proposals: A Case Study from Diyarbakır–Hazro, Türkiye

Abstract

The seismic safety assessment of registered heritage buildings requires analysis strategies that reconcile the mechanical complexity of historical masonry with the principles of minimum intervention and material compatibility. This study evaluates the seismic performance of a registered historical masonry structure located on block 157, plot 63 in the Hazro district of Diyarbakır, in the seismically active southeast of Türkiye, and develops conservation-compatible retrofitting proposals. The building, comprising a ground floor and roof level within a 17.24 m × 6.72 m rectangular plan, was discretized with three-dimensional solid finite elements in Abaqus/CAE on the basis of laser-scanning survey geometry. The seismic demand was defined by the DD-2 design spectrum of the Turkish Earthquake Hazard Map (SS = 0.477; S1 = 0.161; PGA = 0.207g; site class ZD), and the three-component records of AFAD-TADAS station 2106 from the February 6, 2023 Pazarcık (Mw 7.7) earthquake were baseline-corrected, band-pass filtered (0.10–20 Hz, Butterworth), and spectrally matched to the target spectrum using wavelet-based adjustment prior to nonlinear time history analysis. Masonry mechanical parameters were assigned per wall typology in accordance with Table 6.1 of the Turkish Guideline for the Management of Earthquake Risks in Historical Structures (TYDRYK). Modal analysis yielded closely spaced translational modes at 13.75 Hz and 14.32 Hz (T ≈ 0.07 s), consistent with the high lateral stiffness of thick-walled masonry. Under the most unfavorable load combination, maximum compressive and tensile stresses remained at 0.06 MPa and 0.07 MPa, respectively, the peak displacement was 1.05 mm, and the maximum drift ratio (0.1–0.2%) remained well below the 0.7% Controlled Damage limit. A localized capacity deficiency identified in lime-mortar brick masonry zones is resolved by the proposed interventions, after which the structure satisfies the Controlled Damage performance level under the DD-2 hazard.

Keywords

• Historical masonry
• Seismic performance
• Finite element method
• Nonlinear time history analysis
• Spectral matching
• Retrofitting

Ethical Statement

Ethics committee approval was not required for this study because of there was no study on animals or humans.

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