Investigation of the effects of height and number of balcony on dynamic behavior of masonry minarets

In this study, it is aimed to theoretically examine the effects of height and number of balconies on the dynamic behavior of masonry minarets. For this purpose, minarets with different heights and different balcony numbers are modeled with the help of ANSYS Workbench computer software based on finite element method. The model is based on a masonry minaret that has been subjected to experimental analysis in the literature. Free vibration and spectrum analysis of minarets were performed with ANSYS Workbench software. It is assumed that the building material of the stacked minarets modeled with ANSYS Workbench software is homogeneous isotropic. Based on the height of the minaret, new versions of the minaret with different height values were obtained by adding / subtracting the same height value to the minaret sections. By adding balconies to the minarets of different heights, new minaret versions with different balconies were obtained. In the masonry minarets, all degrees of freedom under the pedestal part are supported so that the pedestal and part of the cube are fixed. With the free vibration analysis for masonry minarets, dynamic characters such as natural frequencies and the mode shapes of the minaret were obtained depending on the physical and mechanical properties of the minaret. The dynamic behaviors of these masonry minarets, whose heights and balcony numbers are different, were analyzed by performing free vibration and spectrum analysis. In addition, the natural frequencies, mode shapes and spectrum analysis results of the minarets were compared with each other. With this study, it will be ensured that dynamic behaviors can be predicted by considering the seismicity in the region where the different masonry minarets are located and the height and number of balconies to be made or restored.