Quantification of non-structural damage in unreinforced masonry walls induced by geothermal reservoir exploration

Principal investigators: Dr. G. Abbiati, Dr. M. Broccardo, M. Didier

In Basel and St. Gallen, Switzerland, two pilot geothermal reservoir exploration projects caused sequences of induced earthquakes with magnitude up to 3.5. This triggered insurance claims for non-structural damage for approximately 7-10 millions of Swiss Francs. This perspective motivated the development of a procedure for quantifying plaster cracks on unreinforced masonry walls caused by induced ground motions. A quasi-static cyclic test campaign was recently conducted and plaster damage was quantified via Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and Image Processing (IP). The final goal of this project is to develop a stochastic model of plaster damage for financial risk assessment.