Informatics Publishing Limited

Durgesh C. Rai ¹, Vaibhav Singhal ², Tripti Pradhan ³, Anu Tripathi ⁴

Affiliations
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208 016, IN
2 Department of Civil and Environment Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Bihta 801 103, IN
3 Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, 14 Penn Plaza, 225 West 34th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10122, US
4 Department of Civil, Environment, and Geo-Engineering, University of Minnesota, 500 Pillsbury Drive S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455, US

Abstract

Buddhist monasteries in the Sikkim region have conserved and portrayed the art of Tibetan and Chinese architectural style through centuries. These historic structures have sustained varied degrees of damage due to earlier earthquakes. Their performance in the recent Sikkim earthquake of M 6.9 on 18 September 2011 shows their high seismic vulnerability. A quick seismic assessment using certain simplified indices suggests higher vulnerability of damage for these heritage structures. A post-earthquake ambient vibration test established these monastery temples as shortperiod structures with fundamental period of 0.23 to 0.37 s. A finite element analysis of one of these temples has been done to study its dynamic behaviour. The response spectrum and static nonlinear pushover analysis highlighted vulnerable portions of stone masonry walls and provided useful insights for proper retrofitting to mitigate damage in future earthquakes.

Keywords

Ambient Vibration, Finite Element Analysis, Monasteries, Seismic Vulnerability, Stone Masonry.

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