Abstract:
Preservation of architectural heritage placed in seismic regions is an important issue. This
has emerged also from the requirements of the Eurocodes that are going to replace the current
design code KTP-89. This paper investigates the structural behaviour of an existing masonry
building (former Italian embassy; nowadays a monument of the second category) built in the
1930s in Tirana by means of finite element analysis.
Preservation and rehabilitation of the building can be successfully achieved after a proper
analysis of the structure. The static analysis of historical masonry building does not show
problems to withstand vertical loads, thus attention is given to the seismic analysis. This is
performed by static nonlinear procedure (pushover analysis).
Building a reliable three-dimensional finite element model of the building is essential for
the accuracy of the analysis results. The model assumes that the masonry structure is
homogeneous and the material behaviour is nonlinear. The masonry material strength is based in
laboratory tests performed on specimens extracted from the building. The geometry of the
building was based on a 2007 architectural survey and on the original plans of the 1930s.
The results of the finite element model will help to predict the local and global collapse
mechanisms and assess the security based on the map of seismic risk in order to help in the
identification of a proper retrofitting strategy.
