Abstract
Built cultural heritage is at risk due to manmade and natural hazards. The seismic vulnerability of ancient masonry buildings is particularly difficult to assess and requires specialized technical skills. Key aspects are the materials properties and nonlinear effects, the morphology of the structural elements, the connections between structural elements, the stiffness of horizontal diaphragms and the building condition. This paper addresses the holistic approach recommended for the structural assessment of historic masonry buildings and the developments in the areas of inspection, diagnosis, monitoring and non-destructive testing, with applications to emblematic monuments. The methodology covers a step-by-step approach, based on historical research, an inductive study on similar structures, and a range of surveying, experimental, analytical and numerical tools, all aimed at evaluating the structural response and defining safety levels. Attention is given to the need of conservation engineering background of professionals and ways to attain this goal.
Highlights
Introduction to masonry heritage structuresMasonry is a heterogeneous material that consists of units and joints
Historic masonry exhibits a vast dispersion of types, regarding units and joints, the presence of mortar and different bond arrangements
Research conducted on flexible diaphragms showed that: (a) supports at floors behave as spring supports; (b) large deformation capacity and high strength of the floor are found with respect to its mass; (c) failure mechanisms of flexible diaphragms are related to the lack or weak connections between the masonry walls and diaphragms; (d) highly non‐linear hysteretic behavior is found when peak ground acceleration is high; (e) strengthening of the horizontal diaphragms is a natural solution, even if an increase of the in‐plane stiffness per se is usually not enough to improve the global response of the building
Summary
Masonry is a heterogeneous material that consists of units and joints. The mechanical behavior of the different types of masonry has common features such as high specific mass, low tensile and shear strengths, and low ductility when loaded out‐of‐plane (quasi‐brittle behavior). The majority of historical buildings do not present stiff floors able to provide diaphragmatic action, the so‐called integral or “box behavior” [2] This type of structures exhibited poor performance in many past earthquakes. The methodology of assessing a heritage building respects values of authenticity, structural and architectural integrity, and intangible building technologies It involves a combination of research and diagnosis tools; i.e. historical research, inspection, monitoring and structural analysis. Linear elastic analysis can serve as a preliminary tool, giving preliminary information about deformability and stress distribution It provides often unrealistic responses for unreinforced masonry structures, with incorrect (and over‐ conservative) values of capacity and structural safety. DEM, besides aspects of nonlinearity, allows the complete separation of blocks and the evolution of large displacements, which are excellent for educational purposes; e.g. the Church of Kuño Tambo, in Peru (Fig. 8) and the Roman Temple of Évora, in Portugal (Fig. 9) [16, 17]
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