Seismic Performance of Masonry Structures
Summary
Masonry structures, comprising units of brick, stone or concrete block bound by mortar, represent one of the world’s most widespread building types, from historic temples to modern low-rise housing. Their complex behaviour under earthquake loading arises from material heterogeneity, the interaction between units and mortar, and the formation and propagation of cracks in both in-plane and out-of-plane directions. Unreinforced masonry often exhibits brittle failure, with limited ductility and sudden loss of load-bearing capacity, whereas strengthened or confined systems can dissipate energy through controlled cracking and sliding mechanisms. Performance assessment ranges from experimental testing—using quasi-static and dynamic shake-table campaigns—to numerical modelling at the unit or macro-scale. Recent advances in real-time monitoring and data-driven diagnostics promise to refine damage prognosis and support rapid post-event evaluation. Across seismic regions, performance-based design and retrofit strategies, including textile-reinforced mortars, base isolation and anchored metal straps, aim to balance heritage conservation, cost-effectiveness and safety. Fragility assessments and loss-estimation models now underpin resilience planning, informing retrofit priorities and emergency response. Effective seismic performance thus depends on integrating material science, structural modelling and risk analysis to mitigate collapse mechanisms and preserve cultural assets in the face of increasing seismic and social vulnerability.
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Seismic Performance of Masonry Structures publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in seismic performance of masonry structures across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Unreinforced masonry (URM): A structural system of stone, brick or block units bonded by mortar without additional reinforcement, notable for its brittle failure under seismic loads.
Infilled frame: A composite structural arrangement in which non-structural masonry panels are placed within a reinforced concrete or steel frame, influencing overall seismic stiffness and strength.
Digital twin: A precise virtual model of a physical structure, updated in real time or near-real time, used to simulate behaviour and assess damage under seismic actions.
Fragility function: A probabilistic relationship expressing the likelihood of reaching or exceeding a defined damage state at given seismic intensity levels.
References
- Image-based geometric digital twinning for stone masonry elements. Automation in Construction (2023).
- A neural network‐based automated methodology to identify the crack causes in masonry structures. Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering (2024).
- Proposed macro-model for the analysis of infilled frame structures. Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (2007).
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