Review of different pushover analysis methods applied to masonry buildings and comparison with nonlinear dynamic analysis

Abstract

This article presents the comparison among different nonlinear seismic analysis methods applied to masonry buildings, i.e., pushover analyses with invariant lateral force distributions, adaptive pushover analysis and nonlinear dynamic analysis. The study focuses on the influence of lateral force distribution on the results of the pushover analysis. Two simple benchmark case studies are considered for the purpose of the research, i.e., a four-wall masonry building prototype without floor rigid diaphragms and a two-wall system with a cross-vault. The comparative study offers a useful review of pushover analysis methods for masonry structures and shows advantages and possible limitations of each approach.