STABILITY AND SEISMIC VULNERABILITY OF THE STYLITE TOWER AT UMM AR-RASAS

Abstract

The stability and vulnerability analyses carried out on the Stylite tower at Umm ar-Rasas, Jordan, are presented in this paper. The tower is a unique example of this kind of structure still existing. The soil and the structural material were analyzed by means of in situ experimental tests. These consisted of Schmidt-hammer tests on stone blocks and passive tomography tests. The stability of the tower was first analyzed, assuming an elastic – perfect plastic behavior in compression for masonry. Then the push-over seismic analysis was carried out. This analysis was based on a single-mode approach and on a finite solid element modelling with a Drucker-Prager yield criterion for the masonry. The work is propaedeutic to the design of a retrofit intervention.