Historical Analysis and In-Situ Inspections of a Cultural Heritage Masonry Building

Abstract

Recent seismic events that hit the Centre Italy have highlighted the high vulnerability of the historical and architectonical heritage that is the richness of the country, pointing out once again the difficulty of the assessment of monumental buildings such as churches or historical palaces, due to their uniqueness, the absence of a design, the limitation of invasive in situ tests, but the importance of the knowledge to understand the seismic behavior more than the static analysis under the gravitational loads. In the present paper the knowledge procedure is framed considering the case study of an important nineteenth century astronomical observatory, constructed in 1816-1819. The building, located in Naples, in the southern of Italy, classified by the Italian code as an area of medium seismic hazard, is analyzed by the use of integrated investigation activities such as coring, flat jack tests, georadar to obtain all the information due to the variability of the materials and the influence of previous alterations and repairs, that are data all necessary to develop a reliable model.

Full document

References

[1] Binda, L., Saisi, A., Tiraboschi, C. Investigation procedures for the diagnosis of historic masonries, Construction and Building Materials, (2000) 14(4), pp. 199-233.

[2] Roca, P., González, J. L., 2001. Morphology, Structure and History. The case study of the upper flying arches of Mallorca Cathedral. International Millenium Congresso More than two thousand years in the history of architecture, Ib 22, Paris: ICOMOS 2001

[3] Ramos, L., Casarin, F., Algeri, C., Lourenco, P.B., Modena C. Investigation techniques carried out on the Qutb Minar, New Delhi, India. In Proceedings of the 5th international seminar on structural analysis of historical constructions. New Delhi, India, November 6–8, 2006.

[4] Bosiljkov, V., Uranjek, M., Žarnić, R., Bokan-Bosiljkov, V. An integrated diagnostic approach for the assessment of historic masonry structures. J Cultural Herit (2010) 11(3):239–249.

[5] Roca P. Considerations on the significance of history for the structural analysis of ancient constructions, Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions IV, Padova: University of Padova (2004).

[6] Binda, L., Saisi, A., Zanzi, L. Radar Investigation and Diagnosis of Historic Masonry, 12th International Conference Structural Faults and Repair (2008), Edinburgh 10–12/06/08, CD ROM.

[7] Maierhofer, C., Leipold, S. Radar investigation of masonry structures. NDT&E Int (2001), 34 (2):139–147.

[8] McCann, D.M., Forde, M.C. Review of NDT methods in the assessment of concrete and masonry structures. NDT&E Int (2001), 34(2):71–84

[9] Marcari, G., Fabbrocino, G., Lourenço, P.B. Mechanical properties of tuff and calcarenite stone masonry panels under compression. In: Proceedings of the eight international masonry conference (2010). International Masonry Society; Technische Univesität Dresden., Dresden, Germany.