Analytical model of the four legged minaret and evaluation of its structural damages

Plenty of civilizations legated a lot of architecturally and culturally significant structures in Turkey. Beyond any doubt one of these is four-legged minaret of Seikh Mutahhar Mosque placed in Diyarbakır which is constructed during the Akkoyunlu period in the early 16th century. As it is evident from its name; four-legged masonry minaret formed by four independent basaltic cylindrical pillars on the lower section, and a rigid square cross sectioned body. For such a slender historical structure that has no significant structural damages except the cracks developed in recent years, it is possible to indicate that there have been no occurrences of any major earthquake in last 500 years in Diyarbakır. The purpose of this study is to determine reasons of existing idiopathic structural damages of minaret using software suites to build a macro model includes soil structure interaction between ground and pillars by means of various elastic springs. On the other hand, the ground motions applied to three-dimensional analytical model of the minaret including local material properties evaluated to discuss negative effect of vehicle vibration on the vulnerary of the four-legged minaret.