Seismic analysis of a masonry cross vault through shaking table tests: the case study of the Dey Mosque in Algiers

This paper presents the results of a monodirectional shaking table test on a full-scale unreinforced masonry cross vault characterized by asymmetric boundary conditions. The specimen represents a vault of the mosque of Dey in Algiers (Algeria), reproducing in detail the mechanical characteristics of masonry, and the constructive details including the presence of some peculiar wooden logs placed within the vault’s abutments. The vault was tested with and without the presence of two steel bars which connect two opposite sides of the vault. The dynamic behaviour of both the vault’s configurations were studied by using an incremental dynamic analysis up to the collapse of the vault without the steel bars. The use of an innovative highresolution 3D optical system allowed measure displacement data of the cross vault during the shake table tests. The experimental results were analysed in terms of evolution of damage mechanisms, and in-plane and out-of-plane deformations. Moreover, the dynamic properties of the structure were investigated by means of an experimental modal analysis.