Advanced Materials Research Vols. 133-134

Abstract: Santa Maria Paganica Church, built in the second half of XIII century, represents one of the most important church for L’Aquila history (being the second so-called “capoquarto” church). During the centuries, due also to the damages suffered by various earthquakes, important structural modifications, which are decisive for the interpretation of the seismic response, followed. In particular, as a consequence of L’Aquila earthquake (April 6, 2009), severe collapses interested the church, which in particular occurred in: the dome and dome cladding, the whole roof (with exception of apse), the upper part of the lateral wall on left side, the gable of façade. Several vulnerability factors facilitated the collapse of these portions, in particular: the constructive precariousness of nave’s masonry walls; the asymmetric transversal stiffness on the two opposite sides of nave; the replacement of the original roof. In the paper, starting from the analysis of the constructive details and the subsequent transformations which interested this church, the interpretation of its seismic response will be discussed. Moreover some preliminar issues, associated to the different solutions for the church rebuilding and the strengthening interventions which should be adopted, will be examined.

Abstract: Hagios Gregorios Theologos church is the one of the most important monument of Gelveri, a small town in the region of Cappadocia which is one of the first settlement areas in Anatolia, in central Turkey. The church is dedicated to Gregory the Theologian who is the Cappadocian father of the church in the fourth century. The building consists of three distinct phases of construction: the apse, the naos with a narthex west of it, and the parekklesion, north of the naos. Hagios Gregorios Theologos church was suffered important interventions after the date he’s erected in 385. The building was used till the migration in 1924 and then was converted to a mosque. Situated in a region known with his rock-cut architecture, the building differs with his construction of masonry and maintain tradition of built architecture. It distinguished by the qualified use of the harder volcanic stone. In this paper, the planning and the structure analysis of Hagios Gregorios Theologos church is aimed to be presented.

Abstract: : Tía Cayetana’s inn is an old road motel erected at the end of the 19th Century at Torrebaja (Spain). This inn was built using local vernacular construction techniques, i.e., with a structure made of gypsum pillars, and floors built with beams and gypsum vaulting. The facades and interior walls were built in a combination of stone masonry for the basement and either rammed earth walls or thin stone slabs wall for the upper parts. The local city hall bought the building and entrusted the rehabilitation of the building to the authors of this paper for its future use as a four-star hotel, i.e., the same use for the building more than one hundred years after its original completion. The authors of this paper made an exhaustive study of the fabrics of this building, its construction, material pathologies… and, taking into account these data, elaborated the restoration project for the building that previewed the use of the same original structure made of gypsum to be reinforced with compatible techniques. This article introduces the analysis of the local constructive technique based on the general use of gypsum for the vertical and horizontal structure, the bonding of fabrics and the external and internal coatings, and their structural performance. It also describes the reasoning that took the authors to respect the existing structure in its original condition and the reinforcements made mainly at the foundations and at the floors to assume the new weight of a four-star hotel.

Abstract: The Palazzo del Podestà, situated in the centre of Mantua, has Medieval origins, but it is the result of many additions and reconstructions and it is now abandoned. In 2005 the Town Council commissioned the Politecnico of Milan a research on the real situation of the palaces, in order to determine the future possible uses of the buildings. The causes of the structural decays were investigated and furtherly studied by means of a comparison between archive records and diagnostic tests.

Abstract: For reinforced concrete, we may consider two histories: one focuses on the influence reinforced concrete has exerted on the process of renewal of the architecture of twentieth century; the other pertains to the manners in which the development of this material effectively came about in various geographic areas. The research group at the University of Trento analysed the complex of military constructions produced in the city, and, specifically, it undertook in-depth study of the manner in which the use of reinforced concrete spread to civilian architecture.

Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the behaviour of the calcium silicate brick masonry wall exposed to sulphate condition. This paper presents some result about the effect of sodium sulphate attack on the elasticity of the calcium silicate brick masonry structures. All specimens were cured under polythene sheet for 14 days in environmental controlled room with temperature of 25± 2°C and 80 ± 5% relative humidity. After curing, the specimens were exposed to sodium sulphate solution before tested at 14, 28, 56 and 180 days respectively. As a result, the modulus of elasticity of the calcium silicate brick masonry wall reduces with the increase of sulphate concentration.

Abstract: This paper presents the behaviour of moisture movement of calcium silicate brick masonry walls exposed to sodium sulphate environment. The walls were exposed to three sodium sulphate conditions with sulphate concentrations of5%, 10% and 15%. For comparison, some walls were also exposed to dry and wet condition which acts as a control conditions. All specimens were prepared and cured under polythene sheet for 14 days in a controlled environmental room and maintained at relative humidity and temperature of 80 ± 5% and 25 ± 2°C, respectively. After the curing period, the specimens were exposed to sodium sulphate as well as drying and water exposures, during which moisture movement was measured and monitored for a period of up to 7 months. As a result, the moisture expansion was observed and recorded for all masonry wall specimens after exposed to the sulphate condition.

Abstract: Historical structures, like to masonry towers and another structures are among the structures subjected to the higher risk, due to their age, elevation and low base area on height ratio. In this paper introduce a technique of monitoring the structural integrity of historical buildings by a noncontact and non-destructive analysis is presented and discussed. The damage and destroy of a structure and building, in terms of cracks and overall structural degradation, is detected throughout the measurement of its dynamic characteristics by various ways, for example by a laser Doppler vibrometer(LDV). These techniques can show the frequency spectrum of the structure with high accuracy and reliability and reaction of structure against this technique. Also we will introduce that timber components have no influence on the system behaviour, which is mainly determined by the properties of connections and reactions.

Abstract: Since 2009 the research group managed by the authors promotes the applicability of X-Ray Diffraction technique (NDT) for global stresses measurements in metallic structures for civil engineering and building. There exists standard portable equipments in the market for different applications of those here shown (residual stresses measurements). This paper shows some tests prior the complete calibration for any situation in such a way that can be applied to the quantification of stresses in service. Until now a metallic bar at the Oporto Cathedral, two corrugate bars at laboratory and a small metallic structure at laboratory have been tested. This last experimental work is here shown. The stresses obtained are the sum of the residual stresses and the external applied stresses. Currently the group works in order to remove the effect of the residual stresses by means of tests on small metallic structures specifically built.

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a research project in which the knowledge on testing of creep damage in masonry and acoustic emission (AE) monitoring are combined. Results from different types of creep tests are combined to investigate whether AE monitoring could predict the failure time of the masonry specimens. In previous work, it was observed that the AE event rate is related to the time to failure of the specimen. Processing of the results of new tests enables to update the previously found relation between AE event rate and failure time and to indicate a confidence interval for predictions made with this model. Additionally, the question can be raised whether temporary monitoring could detect unstable damage accumulation and predict failure. Therefore, the results of long-term creep tests are analysed and compared with data from strain monitoring. The results indicate that in most cases, the failure can be predicted.