APPLICATION OF THE NEW EUROCODE 8 TO THE SEISMIC ASSESSMENT OF AN EXISTING BUILDING IN ZAGREB

The second-generation of Eurocode 8 (EC8) has reached an advanced stage of development and some validations have already been made. With reference to the seismic assessment of existing masonry buildings, basically the same methods proposed for the design of new structures are indicated: linear static analysis, and nonlinear static analysis. Even if these methods are already in use within some existing codes, including the Italian one, the EC8 draft incorporates new assumptions and refined criteria. These updates specifically address the verification and modelling criteria for masonry elements (piers and spandrels); in particular, spandrels may be explicitly modelled or considered indirectly. In the context of nonlinear static analysis, new criteria are outlined for defining the equivalent singledegree-of-freedom system. This paper aims to evaluate the practical implication of these newly proposed methods for the seismic assessment of an existing building in downtown Zagreb, constructed in the early twentieth century and thus representing a significant piece of the built masonry heritage in the town. Buildings of this type suffered extensive damage during the Croatian earthquakes of 2020, especially within Zagreb’s historic centre. The selected URM building for this study has a rectangular floor plan and five-stores in elevation, providing a suitable case study to examine the effectiveness and adaptability of the EC8 methodologies in addressing the vulnerabilities of heritage masonry buildings under seismic actions.