Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Structures, cilt.86, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
The current paper aims to present the seismic performance of the historical masonry Vaiz Sunullah Melik Minaret in Malatya during the February 6, 2023, Kahramanmaraş earthquakes. After the February 24, 2020, Elazığ-Sivrice earthquake, the studied minaret suffered slight damage and underwent restoration. The restoration had just been completed when the Kahramanmaraş earthquake struck the historical masonry minaret on February 6, 2023. Before the restoration, a small masjid was adjacent to the minaret and functioned together with it. However, before starting the restoration of the minaret, the masjid was demolished, and a new masjid was constructed 75 cm away from the minaret. Interestingly, this intervention revealed unexpected rotation at higher frequency at the pulpit of the minaret. Before the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, dynamic identification tests were carried out to capture the pulpit rotation, and material characterization was completed. A numerical model was developed to represent the current condition of the minaret, and the material properties were calibrated to obtain a digital twin. Subsequently, a second numerical model was developed to represent the support condition prior to the restoration. Eleven national and international earthquake records (From 0.15 g to 0.58 g) were used for nonlinear time-history analyses to evaluate differences in seismic performance under the two support cases. A total of twenty-two nonlinear dynamic time-history analyses were conducted. The nonlinear analysis results indicate that constructing the new masjid as a detached structure increased torsional demand at the pulpit and was associated with observable damage during the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, particularly given the relatively low material properties at the pulpit level. This response contributed to widening of existing cracks, deterioration of pulpit integrity, and the development of new cracking along the shaft.