An innovative seismic shelter for vulnerable masonry buildings: Shaking table collapse tests

This study presents the analysis of the falling trajectory of a seismic shelter placed on top of a masonry building when its collapse occurs. The test objective was to experimentally simulate the collapse of a vulnerable masonry building accommodating a shelter during an earthquake event. The test was conducted on the 3D seismic table at LNEC as part of the ”Structural Hyper-resisting Element for Life Threatening Earthquake Risk” project, known as the SHELTER project. This study aimed to develop seismic protection to increase survival rates in Unreinforced Masonry Buildings (URMs) in high-risk regions. Given the destructive character of the study, wireless instrumentation—specifically optical and wireless sensors—was preferentially employed. The investigation analysed the shelter behaviour during structural collapse to define requirements for enhancing its design.