Implementation of Pushover Analysis for Seismic Assessment of Masonry Towers: Issues and Practical Recommendations

Seismic assessment is a paramount issue and valuable instrument towards the conservation of vulnerable structures in seismic prone regions. The past events have highlighted vulnerability masonry towers that exhibited by severe structural nonstructural damages or even collapses. preservation existing structures, mainly focused on built heritage, emerging imposing substantial enhancements numerical methods, including pushover analysis approaches. accuracy estimated capacity for these correlated with assumed strategies approximations made during modeling. present paper concerns those aspects exploring limitations possibilities conceiving finite element method environment. most crucial target tracing curve corresponding initiation damages, maximum load-bearing capacity, ultimate displacement capacity. Different recommendations achieving this been proposed illustrated practical utilization. Three representative geometrical towers, adopting three different materials five load patterns, are investigated study. pattern’s role necessity displacement-like control approach exploited. This highlights overestimation when force-controlled implemented. material model influences achievement softening branch distinguishable