On the multidisciplinary approach for the evaluation of the structural behaviour of historic constructions

During the last decades, the scientific community has increasingly focused on evaluating the structural behavior of historic buildings. In fact, these constructions often exhibit a complex structural response due to their unique configuration and the generally poor mechanical properties of the materials, as most of them were built with unreinforced masonry. For these reasons, the accurate reconstruction of the geometry of these buildings is essential for properly assessing their structural response under both static and dynamic loads. In this paper, the structural performance of some iconic historic constructions has been investigated through several detailed numerical analyses. In particular, various Finite Element Models have been implemented based on the geometry reconstruction obtained from comprehensive laser scanner surveys which can capture all the intrinsic irregularities characteristic of heritage buildings. Non-linear analyses have been carried out to evaluate potential collapse mechanisms, highlighting the most critical structural elements.