Seismic Assessment and Retrofitting of the Masonry Building of Mozaffarieh Timche in Tabriz Historic Bazaar

ABSTRACT

In this paper, the seismic behaviour and the strut retrofitting of the Mozaffarieh Timche in the historical covered Tabriz Bazaar is investigated. The Bazaar was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in August 2010. Historical buildings are particularly vulnerable to seismic events because they were designed solely for gravitational loads without any consideration of seismic parameters. The study was carried out in three main steps, the first of which consisted of compression and three-point bending tests on the construction materials to determine their mechanical properties. Thereafter, a three-dimensional finite element model of the Mozaffarieh Timche was developed. Finally, numerical modelling and dynamic analyses were performed. The results revealed that neither the orthogonal walls nor the vaults have adequate resistance to lateral loads. Consequently, they need to be retrofitted in a suitable manner. To avoid collapse or wide crack patterns, two types of strengthening methods are proposed. Steel ties should be applied for reinforcing and for connecting walls to each other, and a spatial structure needs to be placed on the roof in order to control the large displacement of the vaults. The strengthened model showed an acceptable performance with regard to major earthquake excitation, with minimum change to the historic architectural view of the structure.

KEYWORDS:

• Dynamic analyses
• finite element model
• Mozaffarieh Timche
• Tabriz Bazaar