Modelling of in-plane seismic behaviour of one-way steel or timber jack arch floors in existing buildings: application to the Eixample district of Barcelona

The type of floor system has a decisive role in the seismic performance of unreinforced masonry buildings. The in-plane stiffness of the floors has to be adequately represented in the numerical modelling of existing buildings, as it can influence their seismic capacity. This paper investigates the seismic behaviour of one-way arch floor systems composed of steel or timber beams, and ceramic tile vaults. The main objective of the research is to provide a numerical procedure for the simplified modelling of jack arch floor systems in the seismic assessment of unreinforced masonry buildings. The presented approach aims to provide values for the orthotropic properties of simplified floor models composed of elastic 2D shell elements. The orthotropic elastic properties are computed and calibrated by means of comparisons with detailed 3D nonlinear models of the floors. The case study is a multi-storey existing masonry building of the historical “Eixample” district in Barcelona, which includes one-way arch floor systems. The Finite Element Method has been used for the numerical simulation of the seismic performance through nonlinear static (pushover) analyses. The results of the study contribute to a better understanding of the effect of the behaviour of one-way floors with steel or timber beams and tile vaults on the seismic response of masonry buildings. This work provides indicative values for the proper modelling of these particular floor slabs. The proposed methodology is also applicable to the numerical simulation of any other one-way floor system. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government (MCIU), the State Agency of Research (AEI), as well as that of the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) through the project SEVERUS (Multilevel evaluation of seismic vulnerability and risk mitigation of masonry buildings in resilient historical urban centres, ref. num. RTI2018-099589-B-I00). The first author gratefully acknowledges the AGAUR agency of the Generalitat de Catalunya for the financial support of her predoctoral grant. Peer Reviewed Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.4 - Redoblar els esforços per a protegir i salvaguardar el patrimoni cultural i natural del món Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles::11.5 - Per a 2030, reduir de forma significativa el nombre de morts causades per desastres, inclosos els relacio­nats amb l’aigua, i de persones afectades per aquests, i reduir substancialment les pèrdues econòmiques directes causades per desastres relacionades amb el producte interior brut mundial, fent un èmfasi especial en la protecció de les persones pobres i de les persones en situacions de vulnerabilitat Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al Clima::13.1 - Enfortir la resiliència i la capacitat d’adaptació als riscos relacionats amb el clima i els desastres naturals a tots els països Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles