Seismic behaviour of rubble masonry: Shake table test and numerical modelling

The destruction of Amatrice and the surrounding villages in Central Italy after 2016 seismic sequence was so impressive that engineers, authorities local communities started sharing common feeling historical stone masonry buildings were too below current safety standards. severe damage caused by earthquakes led to a general distrust traditional building techniques, leading conclusion there is nothing do but demolish rebuild, perhaps with false antique. Is an alternative? way combine preservation architectural heritage? This paper aims contributing understanding behaviour reproducing, through simulation on shake table, progressive loss compactness real scale rubble wall up ruinous collapse separation between two external leaves. laboratory allowed evaluate decrease fundamental frequency increasing estimate maximum displacement profile amount cracking able sustain before failing. Eventually, modelling strategies based finite discrete element methods proposed applied verify capability simulating out-of-plane response failure mechanisms masonry.