Abstract
The paper describes the strategy adopted to assess the structural condition of the tallest historic tower in Mantua (Italy) after the Italian seismic sequence of May–June 2012 and exemplifies the application of health monitoring using (automated) operational modal analysis. The post-earthquake survey (including extensive visual inspection, historic and documentary research, non-destructive (ND) material testing, and ambient vibration tests) highlighted the poor state of preservation of the upper part of the tower; subsequently, a dynamic monitoring system (consisting of a few accelerometers and one temperature sensor) was installed in the building to address the preservation of the historic structure, and automated modal identification was continuously performed. Despite the low levels of vibration that existed in operational conditions, the analysis of data collected over a period of about 15 months allowed to assess and model the effects of changing temperature on modal frequencies and to detect the occurrence of abnormal behavior and damage under the changing environment. The monitoring results demonstrate the potential key role of vibration-based structural health monitoring, implemented through low-cost hardware solutions and appropriate software tools, in the preventive conservation and the condition-based maintenance of historic towers.
Highlights
The Italian seismic sequence of May–June 2012 [1] highlighted the high vulnerability of the historical architectures, especially in the southern part of the province of Mantua and in the neighboringEmilia-Romagna region, where several brittle collapses of towers, fortification walls, and castles occurred [2,3], despite the supposed low seismicity of the area.After the earthquake, an extensive research program was carried out to assess the structural condition of the tallest historic tower in Mantua: the Gabbia tower [4,5]
The paper focuses on the post‐earthquake assessment of a historic masonry tower and
The paper focuses on the post-earthquake assessment of a historic masonry tower and summarizes summarizes the results of visual inspection, ambient vibration tests, and long‐term dynamic the results of visual inspection, ambient vibration tests, and long-term dynamic monitoring of monitoring of the building
Summary
The Italian seismic sequence of May–June 2012 [1] highlighted the high vulnerability of the historical architectures, especially in the southern part of the province of Mantua and in the neighboring. An extensive research program was carried out to assess the structural condition of the tallest historic tower in Mantua: the Gabbia tower [4,5]. Frequencies of the building [7,8,9,10,11,12,13];ofand detecting occurrence of anyofabnormal change or aimed at: (a) evaluating the response the tower to thefuture expected sequence far-field seismic events; Approximately six months after the beginning of the continuous monitoring, the design tower with was anomaly in the structural behavior. Was subjected to a far-field earthquake [14] and the maximum measured acceleration exceeded about 50 times the highest response that was observed under normal ambient excitation; the monitoring project provided with a challenging opportunity to identify the occurrence of seismic-induced damage under a changing environment.
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