Identification of failure mechanism of the ottoman bath (hamam) at apollonia (pazarouda) exploiatation of historical data

Apollonia Ottoman Bath (Hamam) is a masonry structure of which the last recorded building activity is identified in the period between 1566−1574. Nowadays the northern part of the bath remains intact, whereas at its southern part, collapsed masonry parts of lesser height can be found. The aim of this study is the investigation and identification of causes that led the monument to fail. The study takes advantage of the detailed historical data of the monument and discusses the different construction phases focusing on the structural performance of specific structural elements such as the scaphoid vault of the intermediate room. In total, three structural models with the assumption of isotropic, linearly elastic material were studied. Numerical simulations with dynamic spectrum analysis as well as simplified spectrum analysis (pseudostatic) were also performed. The obtained results were qualitatively compared with the existing structural condition of the monument, evince the correlation between the failure mechanism and the action of seismic loadings. Furthemore, a discussion for further numerical analyses utilizing non-linear tools is following. Finally the decision criteria for the geometry of key structural elements such as the scaphoid vault instead of the typical semi-cylindrical, are studied and discussed.