Analysis of flood impacts on masonry structures and mitigation measures

Abstract

The impact of floods can be devastating to buildings, especially in countries and villages in mountainous areas. Based on the flood impact risk analysis results, two methods are suggested by authors to improve the flood impact defense capability of rural buildings in this paper: increasing the strength of the mortar used in masonry structures, as well as adding reinforced concrete (RC) columns and circle beams to masonry structures. The impact of floods on the reinforced masonry structures is simulated numerically, and the failure process, stress, and deformation behaviors of masonry structures are analyzed. Compared to the computational results of normal masonry structures, the advantages of the two methods proposed in this manuscript are studied. Increasing the mortar strength slows the rate of damage to the masonry structure but does not improve the deformation or the failure behaviors. Increasing the mortar strength slightly decreases the first principal stress on the mortar and brick elements but has no effect on the third principal stress. Adding the RC frames not only delays the damage to the building and improves the failure behavior of the masonry structure but also decreases the first and third principle stresses of the brick and mortar elements.

Flood vulnerability and risk assessment of historic urban areas: Vulnerability evaluation, derivation of depth‐damage curves and cost–benefit analysis of flood adaptation measures applied to the historic city centre of Tomar, Portugal

“…Flood adaptation measures are aimed at minimising the probability and the consequences of flooding events in areas of high flood risk (Hegger et al, 2016; Xiao et al, 2021). Mitigation approaches can be divided into two categories, structural and non‐structural.…”

Qualitative investigations into floodways under extreme flood loading

“…Following a series of natural disasters and the expectation that weather induced events will become more severe due to changing climatic conditions, research into resilient infrastructure strategies has received growing attention (Bocanegra & Frances, 2021; De Bruijn, 2003; Kuang & Liao, 2020). Floods are a frequently occurring and damaging natural disaster causing significant economic loss and damage to the built environment (Xiao et al, 2021). Small road structures, such as floodways (Figure 1), are designed to assist in the safe and expedient vehicular crossing of waterways, increasing the connectedness of rural communities.…”