Seismic risk assessment of Trani’s Cathedral bell tower in Apulia, Italy

The present paper deals with the evaluation of the seismic vulnerability of slender historical buildings; these structures, in fact, may manifest a high risk with respect to seismic actions as usually they have been designed to resist to gravitational loads only, and are characterized by a high flexibility. To evaluate this behavior, the bell tower of the Trani’s Cathedral is investigated. The tower is 57 m tall and is characterized by an unusual building typology, i.e., the walls are composed of a concrete core coupled with external masonry stones. The dynamic parameters and the mechanical properties of the tower have been evaluated on the basis of an extensive experimental campaign that made use of ambient vibration tests and ground penetrating radar tests. Such data have been utilized to calibrate a numerical model of the examined tower. A linear static analysis, a dynamic analysis and a nonlinear static analysis have been carried out on such model to evaluate the displacement capacity of the tower and the seismic risk assessment in accordance with the Italian guidelines.

[1]  Angelo D'Ambrisi,et al.  Seismic assessment of a historical masonry tower with nonlinear static and dynamic analyses tuned on ambient vibration tests , 2012 .

[2]  Temel Türker,et al.  Investigation of restoration effects on the dynamic characteristics of the Hagia Sophia bell-tower by ambient vibration test , 2012 .

[3]  Paola Condoleo,et al.  The use of georadar to assess damage to a masonry Bell Tower in Cremona, Italy , 2005 .

[4]  Salvador Ivorra,et al.  Structural identification and numerical models for slender historical structures , 2015 .

[5]  Salvador Ivorra,et al.  A preliminary approach of dynamic identification of slender buildings by neuronal networks , 2016 .

[6]  Carmelo Gentile,et al.  Operational modal testing of historic structures at different levels of excitation , 2013 .

[7]  Paulo B. Lourenço.  ASSESSMENT, DIAGNOSIS AND STRENGTHENING OF OUTEIRO CHURCH, PORTUGAL , 2005 .

[8]  Gianni Bartoli,et al.  In situ static and dynamic investigations on the “Torre Grossa” masonry tower , 2013 .

[9]  Dora Foti.  A new experimental approach to the pushover analysis of masonry buildings , 2015 .

[10]  Nicola Ivan Giannoccaro,et al.  Modal parameters identification on environmental tests of an ancient tower and validation of its FE model , 2016 .

[11]  Nicola Ivan Giannoccaro,et al.  Identification of the modal properties of a squat historic tower for the tuning of a FE model , 2015 .

[12]  Otello Bergamo,et al.  Experimental analysis of the “Saint Andrea” Masonry Bell Tower in Venice. A new method for the determination of “Tower Global Young’s Modulus E” , 2010 .

[13]  Czesław Szymczak,et al.  Identification of the Vistula Mounting tower model using measured modal data , 2012 .

[14]  Antonella Saisi,et al.  NDE of masonry structures: use of radar tests for the characterisation of stone masonries , 1998 .

[15]  Maria Rosa Valluzzi,et al.  Mechanical behaviour of historic masonry structures strengthened by bed joints structural repointing , 2005 .

[16]  Gholamreza Ahmadi,et al.  Using seismic hazard assessment to study dynamic behavior of Gonbad-e Kāvus tower (the tallest brick tower in the world) , 2014 .

[17]  Dora Foti,et al.  Non-Destructive Techniques and Monitoring for the Evolutive Damage Detection of an Ancient Masonry Structure , 2014 .

[18]  Paulo B. Lourenço,et al.  Monitoring historical masonry structures with operational modal analysis: Two case studies , 2007 .

[19]  Nicola Ivan Giannoccaro,et al.  Identification of the Modal Properties of a Building of the Greek Heritage , 2014 .

[20]  Maria Rosa Valluzzi,et al.  Design choices and intervention techniques for repairing and strengthening of the Monza cathedral bell-tower , 2002 .

[21]  Carmelo Gentile,et al.  Dynamic testing of a historical slender building using accelerometers and radar , 2015 .

[22]  Salvador Ivorra,et al.  Dynamic investigations on a masonry bell tower , 2006 .

[23]  Nicola Ivan Giannoccaro,et al.  Non-destructive characterization and identification of the modal parameters of an old masonry tower , 2014, 2014 IEEE Workshop on Environmental, Energy, and Structural Monitoring Systems Proceedings.

[24]  Nicola Ivan Giannoccaro,et al.  Optimal model through identified frequencies of a masonry building structure with wooden floors , 2014 .

[25]  Carmelo Gentile,et al.  Ambient vibration testing of historic masonry towers for structural identification and damage assessment , 2007 .