Effect of the properties of the masonry buildings on their allowable settlements

International audienceThe objective of this paper is to study the effect of the geometrical and mechanical properties of the masonry buildings on the allowable values of their deflection, in order to assess their damage category. Presented in this paper is a parametric study performed using an analytical method that computes the deflection of the building, to assess its damage. This analytical method models the building as an equivalent simply supported beam under its own weight. The beam is subjected to a deflection that represents the differential settlement. The used analytical method permits to determine a relation between the maximal extensive strain value in the structure and its deflection ratio relative to the building properties. The sensibility analysis presented herein shows the effect of the building properties (geometry, stiffness, position of the neutral axis in the beam) on the thresholds of the deflection ratio used to assess damage. Results show that the thresholds of the deflection ratio of the masonry building can change relative to its properties. Results show a range of variation of this ratio associated to different damage categories