Investigation of seismic damage propagation in historical masonry mosque; example of Uşak Ulu Mosque

Historical buildings are symbols of our cultural heritage and richness. They are an important part of our heritage, transmitting many of their characteristics to next generations. As Turkey, one of the most important symbols of our cultural heritage are Ulu Mosques. Historical mosques built in Anatolia during the Seljuk, Principalities and Ottoman periods, especially for Friday and Eid prayers, are called “Ulu Mosques”. Ulu Mosques were generally built in city squares and in places that can be called quite easy to reach. Ulu mosques in Turkey are also considered a symbol of “power and independence”. These structures are evidence that show the history and reflect the behaviour of the people and the culture of the past as well and they need to be safely passed on to next generations. Earthquakes over the years have caused great damage to these structures. In order to protect historical masonry mosques against earthquakes, 3D finite element models should be created and nonlinear analysis should be performed. In this paper, linear and nonlinear time domain analyses of the historical masonry Ulu Mosque in Uşak province are carried out. As a result of the analyses, the dynamic behavior of the selected historical masonry structure under earthquake load is investigated. Concrete Damage Plasticity (CDP) model was used in the nonlinear time domain analysis of the structure.