Lateral period and seismic vulnerability of masonry buildings

The present paper compares the performance of some alternative methods of finite-element modelling and analytical formulation in the prediction of in-plane and out-of-plane stiffness and natural periods of masonry wall. It also aims to elaborate on the suitability of such techniques for masonry buildings through a number of case studies. While comparing these results with those predicted by relevant formula proposed by seismic codes of various countries, it has been observed that code formulas overestimate the periods considerably. The gap between the results from code formula and those from the analytical formulation is reduced if soil–structure interaction is incorporated in the analytical formulation, implying its suitability for predicting lateral period. Finally, the presented seismic safety assessment of masonry buildings for different combinations of number of storeys and bays may lead to valuable design insight. The study as a whole gave a good insight into effective finite-element modelling and seismic safety assessment of masonry buildings.