TY - JOUR A1 - Sýkora, Miroslav A1 - Diamantidis, Dimitris A1 - Holický, Milan A1 - Marková, Jana A1 - Rózsás, Árpád T1 - Assessment of compressive strength of historic masonry using non-destructive and destructive techniques JF - Construction and Building Materials N2 - Masonry structures were built by various techniques using different materials, the properties of which exhibit a considerable scatter dependent on periods of construction and region-specific conditions. For historic structures with a heritage value, various non- or minor-destructive tests (NDTs) are commonly applied, while the application of destructive tests (DTs) is minimized. The contribution is based on investigations of 15 historic stone and clay brick masonry structures, for which NDT strengths of masonry units are verified by DTs. The proposed operational approach makes it possible to account for statistical uncertainty due to a limited number of DTs used to calibrate NDTs. KW - Calibration KW - Clay bricks KW - Compressive strength KW - Mortar KW - Non-destructive test KW - Statistical analysis KW - Stone masonry KW - Uncertainty Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.10.180 VL - 193 IS - December SP - 196 EP - 210 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sýkora, Miroslav A1 - Holický, Milan A1 - Diamantidis, Dimitris T1 - Probabilistic updating in the reliability assessment of industrial heritage structures JF - Heron N2 - Assessment of existing structures should be based on the actual as-built conditions concerning geometry, material properties, loading and environmental conditions. A crucial step of the assessment consists in updating of prior information by newly obtained measurements which may be conducted by Bayesian approach. Updating of probabilistic distributions of basic variables or direct updating of failure probability can be effectively used. Application of theoretical principles is illustrated by a case study of a historic factory built in 1900s. The paper is a tribute to Ton Vrouwenvelder for his essential contributions to developments of theory and promotion of practical applications of probabilistic assessment of existing structures. Y1 - 2016 UR - http://www.heronjournal.nl/59-23/1.pdf SN - 0046-7316 VL - 59 IS - 2/3 PB - Stevin-Laboratorium, TU Delft CY - Delft ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Steenbergen, R.D.J.M. A1 - Sýkora, Miroslav A1 - Diamantidis, Dimitris A1 - Holický, Milan A1 - Vrouwenvelder, A.C.W.M. T1 - Economic and human safety reliability levels for existing structures JF - Structural Concrete. JOurnal of the fib N2 - Specifying the target reliability levels is one of the key issues in the assessment of existing structures. For a majority of existing buildings and infrastructures, the design life has been reached or will be reached in the near future. These structures need to be reassessed in order to verify their safety. Eurocodes provide a general basis primarily intended for the design of new structures, but the basic principles can be used for assessing existing buildings, too. Reliability levels are generally based on both economic optimization and criteria for human safety. In this study, both methods are elaborated for existing structures. It appears that the requirement for the same target reliability for existing and new structures is uneconomical. Further, cost optimization seems to yield rather low reliability levels and human safety criteria often become the critical factor. The study concludes with practical guidelines for establishing reliability indices for existing structures linked to Eurocode principles. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/suco.201500022 VL - 16 SP - 323 EP - 332 PB - Wiley ER -