ASSESSMENT OF SEISMIC VULNERABILITY OF HISTORICAL DEFENSIVE WALLS

Abstract eng:
This paper presents a study on the behaviour of the walls of the Rocca Roveresca of Senigallia in Italy built in the XIV century on the ruins of a former Roman defensive structure. This is a peculiar example of a small fortress that had undergone in the XV century important modifications of the plant in order to enhance its defensive performances. A linear finite element model is first developed in order to understand the dynamic behaviour of a generic portion of the wall and to detect the probable incipient failure mechanisms. A subsequent static nonlinear analysis is carried out, with the same finite element model, to investigate the formation of the cracking layout and to detect the position of plastic hinges. The last analysis level is carried out with a tailored macro-element constituted by three bodies, namely the two external curtains and the inner fill for which a degradation of the behaviour is considered. The results obtained demonstrates the efficiency of the wall against earthquakes characterized by return times typical for ultimate limit states. Same issues that deserve further investigation are highlighted.

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