by Maurizio Leggeri, Giuseppe Lacava, Eugenio Viola
This building type is commonly used for multifamily housing in urban areas of Italy and is particularly common in the region of Potenza (Basilicata). Prior to 1981, this region was not included in the official seismic zonation map of Italy, in spite of the historical evidence. However, after the major earthquake of November 1980, the entire Potenza province was recognized as a seismically prone area. Consequently, seismic considerations were not taken into account for in the building design projects predating the 1980 earthquake. The main load-bearing structure is reinforced concrete frame with masonry infill walls. Many buildings of this type were strengthened using the financial assistance provided by the government. The upgrade typically consists of installing new shear walls and L-shaped columns, and strengthening the foundation.
Report # 30 : Reinforced concrete frame building
Report # 29 : Single-family historic brick masonry house (Casa unifamiliare in centro storico, Centro Italia)
by Dina D’Ayala, Elena Speranza, Francesco D’Ercole
This single-family housing type, found throughout the Central Italy (Centro Italia) mainly in hill towns and small cities, is typically built on sloped terrain. A typical house is 3 stories high, built between two adjacent buildings with which it shares common walls. The main facade of the house faces a narrow road. The ground floor level (perforated with openings on one side only) is used for storage, while the other two stories are used for residential purposes. Typical buildings of this type are approximately 3 m wide and 9 m long. The building height on the front side is on the order of 4.5 m, whereas the height on the rear side is larger (close to 5 m). All the walls are made of unreinforced brick masonry in lime mortar, while the floor structures are vaults at the ground floor level, and timber floor structures at the higher levels. The roof is made of timber and is double-pitched, sloping down towards the front and rear walls. Buildings of this type are expected to demonstrate rather good seismic performance, mostly due to their modest height. Problems related to seismic performance might be caused by the adjacent buildings (typically one story higher). Seismic strengthening techniques for buildings of this type are well established and strengthening of some buildings has been done after the recent earthquake.
Report # 28 : Single-family stone masonry house
by Dina D’Ayala, Elena Speranza
These buildings form the historic centers of most hilltop villages and towns in central Italy. They are arranged in long terraced clusters. Hillside dwellings have common walls and a variable number of stories (up to 2 or 3). Buildings situated in the valley usually have 4 or 5, with a maximum of 6, stories. The typical house is usually formed by one or two masonry cells, depending on the depth of the block, and with a staircase (usually but not necessarily) running along the common wall. The masonry is made of roughly squared stone blocks set in lime mortar, and the walls are made of two leaves with a rubble core at the base, tapering at the upper floors. Limestone is used for the blocks, while a particular type of tuffa stone is used for the lintels above the openings. At the ground level there are sometimes vaulted structures. The upper stories were originally spanned by timber beams, with joist and timber boards covered by tiles. The roof structure is usually original and made of timber trusses. In the recent past, many of the original floors have been replaced either with iron ‘I’ beams and jack arches (renovations occurring before World War II), or during the last fifty years, with weakly reinforced concrete slabs. Other alterations include vertical extensions, the closing and opening of windows, and introduction of hygienic services. A high proportion of these houses exhibit the traditional iron ties introduced in the 18th century to tie together the orthogonal walls and floors for better seismic performance. After the introduction of modern seismic codes in the 1980s, many buildings have undergone further strengthening through the use of RC ring beams and concrete jacketing of walls.
Report # 17 : Reinforced concrete frame building with an independent vertical extension
by Vlasis Koumousis
This is a typical residential construction found in the suburbs of large Greek cities and in smaller towns. Buildings are three stories with a warehouse on the ground floor level, and typically, two apartments on the upper floor levels. The peculiarity of this building type is that it consists of two independent structures built over a period of 20 years. The two lower stories were constructed in the 1960s as a reinforced concrete frame structure, without provisions for vertical extension. In the 1980s, an additional floor was built on top of the existing structure and an independent elevator core and staircase added to expand the building horizontally. Columns and shear walls at the perimeter of the 1980 portion of the building were built on separate footings, whereas the interior columns and shear walls were constructed by drilling openings through the slabs of the 1960 portion in order to achieve continuity from the top floor down to the new foundations. Floor structure for the 1980 portion was constructed at an elevation 400 mm higher when compared to the roof level of the 1960 portion. The entire layout results in a tight connection of the new and the old structure. Due to the anomalous position of the channel-shaped elevator shaft, seismic response of this structure is characterized with significant torsional vibrations in the newer 1980 section, thus resulting in excessive lateral displacements in the 1960 structure. Some buildings of this type were damaged in the 1999 Athens earthquake and were strengthened after the earthquake.
Report # 16 : Load-bearing stone masonry building
by T. P. Tassios, Kostas Syrmakezis
These buildings are mainly found in the historical centers of Greek cities and provinces. The main load-bearing structure consists of stone masonry walls. The walls are built using local field stones and lime mortar. The floors and roof are of timber construction. The seismic performance is generally poor. Diagonal cracking at the horizontal and vertical joints are the common type of damage.
Report # 15 : Multistory reinforced concrete frame building
by T. P. Tassios, Kostas Syrmakezis
These buildings represent a typical multi-family residential construction, mainly found in the Greek suburbs. This housing type is very common and constitutes approximately 30% of the entire housing stock in Greece. Buildings are generally medium-rise, typically 4 to 5 stories high. The main lateral load-resisting structure is a dual system, consisting of reinforced concrete columns and shear walls. A relatively small-sized reinforced concrete core is usually present and serves as an elevator shaft. The roof and floor structures consist of rigid concrete slabs supported by the beams. Seismic performance of these buildings is generally good, provided that the seismic design takes into account the soft ground floor effects, e.g., by installing strong RC shear walls. Failure of the soft ground floor is the most common type of damage for this type of structure. Some buildings of this type were damaged in the 1999 Athens earthquake.
Report # 13 : Gravity-Designed Reinforced Concrete Frame Buildings with Unreinforced Masonry Infill Walls
by V. Levtchitch
This type of concrete apartment building was widely constructed after the 1974 Turkish invasion in order to accommodate approximately 200,000 refugees. Typically, these buildings are low-rise (up to 5 stories) apartment blocks. As a rule, architectural considerations prevail over structural requirements. Very often columns are located irregularly and do not form a definite grid. Soft ground stories are used for car-parks (garages) and shops. Staircases and lift (elevator) shafts are not located symmetrically. The vulnerability of these buildings should be very high when the inherent seismic deficiencies of this structural type (design mistakes, construction faults, unavoidable aging, lack of maintenance, accumulation of minor damage from previous earthquakes, deterioration of the concrete and corrosion of the reinforcing bars) are taken into account. But against all odds the majority of these buildings have stood well in numerous small earthquakes and exhibited rather good performance under the peak ground accelerations of up to 0.15g (the maximum expected in Cyprus). Damage and destruction have been very selective depending on the local soil conditions and periods of natural vibration.