Seismic analysis of brick masonry structures of the Paugan powerhouse

The paper presents the results of seismic analyses of unreinforced brick masonry walls of the Paugan hydroelectric power station located on the Gatineau River in Quebec, Canada. The analysis incorporates a continuum formulation in which the anisotropic properties of the masonry are described using the critical plane approach. First, the specification of material functions/parameters is addressed. The approach involves numerical simulations of representative elementary volume (REV) using a mesoscale approach, which accounts for the onset and propagation of localized deformation. A general methodology is outlined, using different approaches, and the results are compared with the available experimental data. The second part of this paper deals with the Paugan powerhouse. A series of dynamic analyses have been conducted that include a study of the impact of seismic retrofit of the masonry walls on their overall stability.