IN-PERSON: Prague – Section B

Abstract

Historic buildings and museums exhibits are of utmost importance to preserve Cultural Heritage both in terms of material objects and social traditions. In this context, a variety of innovative scientific techniques have been developed to protect them from decay and damage. One of the most relevant risks for the integrity of historic buildings is represented by mechanical stress induced by natural (i.e. earthquakes) and anthropic vibrations in urban areas (i.e. vehicle traffic and excavation works). This is particularly important in a country like Italy, where lots of ancient architectural assets are located in congested city centers and in areas with remarkable seismic risk. Nowadays conventional anti-seismic retrofitting techniques are very effective, but they are generally quite invasive, as they imply the insertion of strengthening members (made up of modern materials) that do not integrate well with the original external appearance of historic buildings. The RIPARA project aims to develop an innovative technology to protect historic masonry buildings from seismic- and vibration-induced damage and at the same time minimizing the visual impact of the strengthening intervention. In particular, the strengthening system utilizes steel members connecting the masonry walls, but embedded in the mortar joints or applied only from the inside, minimizing their visibility from outside and preserving the appearance of fair face historic masonry façades. The project includes laboratory experiments to validate the effectiveness of the solution through in-plane cyclic load tests of wall samples and seismic tests by shaking table of a masonry building with and without strengthening intervention.