NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION ON THE SEISMIC RESPONSE OF HISTORICAL TOWERS

Abstract eng:
The numerical investigation on the seismic behavior of a non-isolated historical masonry tower is presented and discussed. The tower under study is the main tower of the fortress of San Felice sul Panaro, a town located near the city of Modena (Italy). Such a tower is surrounded by adjacent structural elements and, therefore, is not isolated [1]. This historical monument has been hit by the devastating seismic sequence occurred in May 2012 in the Northern part of the Emilia region (the so-called “Emilia Earthquake”), showing a huge and widespread damage. Here, in order to understand the behavior of the structure, its interaction with the adjacent buildings and the reasons of the occurred damage, advanced numerical analyses (both nonlinear static and dynamic) are performed on several 3D finite element models with different level of constraint of the adjacent structural elements. Moreover, particular attention is devoted to the modelling of a masonry vault located at the second floor of the aforementioned tower. A detailed comparison between the simulated damage and the actual one is carried out. The numerical results are in good agreement with the actual crack pattern, particularly for the model of the tower which considers the adjacent structural elements. Advanced considerations on the seismic damage behavior of non-isolated masonry towers and vaults are presented and discussed.

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