Determination of earthquake performances and structural properties of masonry school buildings

Masonry buildings, despite not being favored by means of construction recently, still constitute a large amount of the building stock currently in use in our country. The older buildings are masonry, majority of which are public buildings. Seismic behavior of masonry buildings have been the subject of many studies. The masonry buildings in rural areas are generally constructed in traditional style and without any engineering knowledge. Earthquake performances of these buildings need to be reinspected according to the regulations in DBYBHY. In the Introduction part of the present study, classes of basic load-bearing materials and mortar were investigated. Second part in the study contains the aims and results of previous studies conducted previously. In the third part of the study the provisions updated in 2007 and published on the fifth section of the regulations about The Buildings Constructed on Earthquake Zones were investigated. An example on application of these provisions was also given in the study. In the fourth part of the study 20 of the masonry school buildings that are still in use in Bilecik region were inspected for visual parameters such as plan geometry, the gaps of load-bearing walls, malfunctions. Their earthquake performances were also determined based on the limited knowledge on their load-bearing system. The buildings were evaluated in terms of earthquake risk, and reinforcement suggestions were given in the fifth part for the buildings which had inadequate earthquake performance. It was determined from the results that fifteen of twenty buildings investigated in other words an average of 75% of the buildings needs to be reinforced. The results and conclusions obtained from the masonry buildings in Bilecik region were given in the sixth part. Key Words: Masonry Constructions; Earthquake Performance; Damage Failure.