Earthquake response analysis of Edirnekapı Mihrimah Sultan Mosque

Edirnekapı Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, one of the greatest works of Sinan, was damaged seriously in 17 August 1999 Marmara Earthquake. So the Mosque should be retrofitted in a very short time. But the analytical approaches show that an effective strengthening that will not give any harm to the original structure can not be made by using conventional techniques. A full reparation and seismic isolation, an alternative of seismic retrofit, of the structure could lengthen the life of the structure and seems to be the unique assessment that would be radical, permanent and rational. In this study, the types and causes of the cracks in masonry structures and their retrofit techniques are defined. Then the main characteristics of seismic isolation technique is explaned. Time history analysis of the finite element models of the Mosque, both isolated and fix based,are made by using two different acceleration records of 1999 Marmara Earthquake. SAP90 and SAP2000 finite element analysis softwares are used in the analysis.Finally the results are interpreted comparatively. VI