Abstract
The dynamic behaviour and the seismic vulnerability of the ancient civic tower of Amatrice, dramatically damaged by the last shocks sequence of 2016 that occurred in Central Italy, have been studied in this paper by means of advanced 3D numerical analyses with the Discrete Element Method (DEM). Thus, a discontinuous approach has been used to assess the dynamic properties and the vulnerability of the masonry structure, through large deformations regulated by the Signorini’s law, concerning the impenetrability between the rigid bodies, and by the Coulomb’s law, regarding the dry-friction model. Afterward, different values have been assigned to the friction coefficient of the models and real seismic shocks have been applied in the nonlinear analyses. The major purpose of this study is to highlight that relevant data on the real structural behaviour of historical masonry can be provided through advanced numerical analyses. The comparison between the results of the numerical simulation and the survey of the existing crack pattern of the bell tower permitted to validate the approach used. Finally, from the results and conclusions of this case study, it is possible to affirm that the used methodology can be applied to a wide variety of historical masonry structure in Europe.
Highlights
The damage assessment of historical masonry buildings is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish in structural mechanics, since this kind of structures is commonly heterogeneous, with complex geometries, irregularities and absence of a box behaviour due to defective connections between different structural parts, in particular walls and floors, that often play a fundamental role
This approach pointed out discontinuous nonlinear dynamics of the structure, allowing to investigate them, exploring the influence of the main mechanical parameters used in the Non-Smooth Contact Dynamics Method (NSCD) method, namely the friction coefficient, on the dynamical global behaviour of the structure under the action of the four different sets of ground motions related to most recent Central Italy seismic sequence of 2016
The mechanical behaviour of the masonry structures is influenced by only the friction coefficient, related to the quality of existing masonry of the analysed bell tower
Summary
The damage assessment of historical masonry buildings is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish in structural mechanics, since this kind of structures is commonly heterogeneous, with complex geometries, irregularities and absence of a box behaviour due to defective connections between different structural parts, in particular walls and floors, that often play a fundamental role. The NSCD method was applied on advanced numerical models to survey both the dynamical behaviour of the ancient masonry bell tower subject to strong nonlinear dynamic actions and the modalities of progressive collapse mechanisms This characteristic masonry structure inside the epicentral area of the Centre Italy seismic sequence of August and October 2016 was discretized in very detailed 3D models. These models were achieved through rigid blocks bounded together by points of contacts, which follow the Signorini's law, about the impenetrability condition, and the Coulomb's law, relative to dry-friction [25] This approach pointed out discontinuous nonlinear dynamics of the structure, allowing to investigate them, exploring the influence of the main mechanical parameters used in the NSCD method, namely the friction coefficient, on the dynamical global behaviour of the structure under the action of the four different sets of ground motions related to most recent Central Italy seismic sequence of 2016
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