Determination of earthquake performance of Süleymaniye Mosque

Abstract

Built between 1549-1557 by the great Turkish architect Mimar Sinan and named after the legendary Ottoman Emperor Siileyman the Magnificient, the Siileymaniye Mosque is considered to be the masterpiece of the Ottoman architecture. It is a fact that the research studies carried out up today towards the determination of the earthquake performance of this masterpiece of Otioman-Turkish Engineering is very limited. Within the framework of research activities being carried out at the Earthquake Engineering Department of Kandilli Earthquake Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute for the important historic edifices which was initiated with the Hagia Sophia, the present study on Siileyrnaniye Mosque is aimed at the exploration of the earthquake performance and dynamic characteristics of the structure. The three dimensional finite element model of the structure previously prepared by A.Selahiye was refined.Non-destructive material tests were carried out in the mosque in order to determine the material characteristics.The data obtained from the tests were used in the study and as a further step, the effects of different materials were investigated.At this stage the effects of different boundary conditions were also combined in the study. The earthquake records obtained from the strong ground motion accelerometers previously installed on Siileymaniye Mosque were also analysed to obtain the natural vibration frequencies and to compare the resulting values with those obtained by other methods.As a last stage of the study, the analysis of the improved model under a scenario earthquake for istanbul was carried out.