Structural Damage Assessment of a Five Tiered Pagoda Style Temple in Nepal

Abstract eng:
The April 2015 M7.8 Gorkha Earthquake and its aftershocks caused extensive damage to numerous cultural heritage sites throughout Nepal. While many structures experienced complete collapses, one of the most recognizable cultural heritage sites that suffered damage was the five-tiered Nyatapola Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Bhaktapur, Nepal. This temple was originally completed in 1702 and survived both the 1934 Nepal-Bihar and 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and subsequent aftershocks. However, this historical temple experienced extensive cracks within the unreinforced masonry brick walls with mud-mortar during the 2015 earthquake. As a result, the authors collected detailed assessment data to characterize its state in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake to inform potential rehabilitation solutions. The data collected includes ambient vibration data and ground-based lidar. The ambient vibration data was collected via accelerometers placed each roof level in three different setups. Twenty-four minutes of data for each setup were obtained to identify the modal parameters using output-only system identification techniques. To complement the ambient vibration data, over 35 lidar scans were performed over two days to quantify the extent of cracking on the exterior and interior walls. Both of these sensing techniques provide important information for the development of an initial finite element model. The developed finite element model aids in the understanding of the response of this structure and give insight to the performance of this and other historical Pagoda style temples in future earthquake events.

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