G. Cardani - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by G. Cardani

vol. 13 n. 6; p. 413-426, ISSN: 1864-7251, 2007

A methodology of investigation and diagnosis of the built heritage of historic centres in seismic... more A methodology of investigation and diagnosis of the built heritage of historic centres in seismic areas of Italy is proposed. The aim is to collect an extensive knowledge on the structural typologies and behaviour of historic masonry buildings for the prevention and/or repair of damages caused by earthquakes. Small historic centres or residential buildings in larger centres have been for long time considered as “minor architecture”, but they are meaningful testimonies of the Italian cultural heritage. The results of the investigation also allowed a critical review of the reliability of the analytical models and of the effectiveness of the repair techniques applied in the past decades. The guidelines emerging from the results of an extensive research are presented in this paper (Part 1 of the study). A "minimal" investigation program, which can support the designers in their projects and appropriate mathematical models to study the vulnerability of the structures is suggested.

Proceedings of the VI International Conference on Structural Analysis of Historic Construction, SAHC08, 2-4 July 2008, Bath, United Kingdom, 2008

Restoration of Buildings and Monuments, 2007

Nondestructive Testing of Materials and Structures, 2011

The results of an automatic procedure developed at the University of Padova and based on numerica... more The results of an automatic procedure developed at the University of Padova and based on numerical models calculating the accelerations which activate local collapse mechanisms of macro-elements that can develop in historical masonry buildings, are presented: the Vulnus methodology, based on the fuzzy set theory, provides global vulnerability assessments of individual structural units or groups of buildings, as well as fragility curves related to the achievement or overcoming of the limit state of heavy damage. Moreover, Vulnus is able to identify the vulnerability class for each structural unit, as defined by the European Macroseismic Scale EMS98. The EMS98 scale separates the definitions of building typologies from the corresponding vulnerability class and thus from the expected behaviour in case of seismic event: in this way, it provides a common framework for the evaluation of seismic vulnerability and the estimation of the damage of buildings on a large scale. Analytical applications for buildings sampled in two historic centres in Umbria located in seismic area (Campi Alto di Norcia and Castelluccio di Norcia) characterized by various building typologies and different levels of aggregation of the buildings are presented.

The limit analysis approach applied to structural macro-elements that can develop in historical m... more The limit analysis approach applied to structural macro-elements that can develop in historical masonry buildings under seismic action, depending on few geometric and mechanical parameters, allows reliable expeditious vulnerability assessments. Vulnus is an automatic procedure developed at the University of Padova and based on numerical models calculating the accelerations which activate local collapse mechanisms of macro-elements: the methodology provides, through a knowledge based fuzzy model, vulnerability assessments of individual structural units or groups of buildings, as well as fragility curves related to the achievement or overcoming of the limit state of heavy damage. Moreover, Vulnus is able to identify the vulnerability class for each structural unit, as defined by the European Macroseismic Scale EMS98, allowing the construction of damage scenarios. The EMS98 scale separates the definitions of building typologies from the corresponding vulnerability class and thus from the expected behaviour in case of seismic event: in this way, it provides a common framework for the evaluation of seismic vulnerability and the estimation of the damage of buildings on a large scale. The results of analytical applications of the procedure on buildings aggregates sampled in the historic centre of Sulmona, in L"Aquila province, an important historic centre in Central Italy, are presented. It is an area of great interest, not only considering its seismic history, but also because of the characteristics of its prestigious buildings, mainly made of poor multiple leaf stone masonry. Preliminarily, an on-site investigation methodology, based on the buildings survey using specific forms, the collection of data on interventions, damage mechanisms, etc. and a minimum number of laboratory and in-situ tests, was applied in order to collect all the data requested by Vulnus and to provide useful indications on the actual vulnerability conditions of the centre to be compared with the results obtained with the automatic procedure. In fact, the knowledge of typology and damage of historic masonry structures in seismic area is fundamental for the choice of suitable techniques and materials aimed to the preservation and damage prevention of the cultural heritage. The paper describes this procedure, addressed to an articulated knowledge of the material, of the morphology and of the constructive aspects of the masonry structures, of the mechanical behaviour and of the possible failure mechanisms of complex buildings in Sulmona (AQ). The understanding of the historical buildings has made use of a direct survey of the constructions (based on a geometrical survey, on a survey of the materials and of their state of damage), of indirect information deduced by documentary sources, and of data collected through in-situ non destructive or minor destructive testing and laboratory investigation for a chemical, physical and mechanical characterisation of the masonry and of its components.

$Research paper thumbnail of Mechanical characterization of natural building stones: observation of the fracture process zone by ESPI$

Proceedings of SPIE, 1999

The cultural heritage of many nations consist of a great variety of structures of high intrinsic ... more The cultural heritage of many nations consist of a great variety of structures of high intrinsic value, which are often composed of natural building stones (NBS), as granite, limestone, marble and sandstone. The use of accurate inspection devices, such as laser interferometry, allows us to acquire information regarding the mechanical properties and damage (tensile cracks) of NBS, which represents the

Restoration of Buildings and Monuments, 2002

After the earthquake that hit central Italy in 1979, many small historic centers were restored. A... more After the earthquake that hit central Italy in 1979, many small historic centers were restored. A subsequent seismic event occurred in 1997 in Umbria-Marche regions revealed that some techniques used in the previous interventions were not successful due to low durability of new materials and/or incompatibility between the new and the existing materials and structures. An extensive investigation on four

Structural Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of Heritage Architecture XI, 2009

ABSTRACT This paper describes a procedure, addressed to an articulated knowledge of the material,... more ABSTRACT This paper describes a procedure, addressed to an articulated knowledge of the material, of the morphology and of the constructive aspects of the masonry structures, of the mechanical behaviour and of the possible failure mechanisms of complex buildings in Sulmona (AQ), an important historic centre in Central Italy. It is an area of great interest, not only considering its seismic history, but also because of the characteristics of its prestigious buildings, mainly made of multiple leaf stone masonry. The understanding of the historical buildings has made use of a direct survey of the constructions (based on a geometrical survey, on a survey of the materials and of their state of damage), of indirect information deduced by documentary sources, and of data collected through in-situ non destructive or minor destructive testing and laboratory investigation for a chemical, physical and mechanical characterisation of the masonry and of its components. Record templates and forms, some of them purposely set up, have been adopted and collected into a database for the damage and masonry quality assessment and the evaluation of the future vulnerability of the buildings to in-plane and out-of-plane actions according to damage abacuses previously produced. Keywords: ND evaluation, multiple leaf masonry, cross section morphology, historical complex buildings.

Key Engineering Materials, 2014

Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 2010

ABSTRACT After an investigation on the most recent floods occurred in Italy that damaged the Cult... more ABSTRACT After an investigation on the most recent floods occurred in Italy that damaged the Cultural Heritage masonry buildings, an experimental research started on-site on full-scale masonry models exposed to the environmental agents in Milan. The masonry materials used for the full-scale models were largely investigated in the past and the models were subjected to decay caused by the capillary rise and by the crystallization of sodium sulfate coming from the foundations. These walls can actually simulate the state of naturally contaminated walls before a flood and represent a construction where the main parameters are known. A flood has been simulated by adding water for several days to the walls of the full-scale models previously contaminated by salts, then the walls were left to naturally dry. The objective is to check the effectiveness of nondestructive _ND_ techniques in detecting the presence of water and the drying process and also the influence of surface treatments presence. Radar tests, thermography tests, sonic tests, as well as the minor destructive powder drilling tests were applied successfully to evaluate the moisture distribution in the masonry after flooding and during natural drying.

Construction and Building Materials, 1999

A study of the behaviour of marble beams under four-point bending tests is presented. Two types o... more A study of the behaviour of marble beams under four-point bending tests is presented. Two types of marble are considered: Carrara and Dionysos, which were in the past widely used in buildings in Italy and Greece and are still in use to replace failed or damaged parts of ...

Int. Congr.More than Two …, 2000

The growth of Milan in the last century occupied some rural areas still active in the fifties and... more The growth of Milan in the last century occupied some rural areas still active in the fifties and sixties; the buildings were abandoned by the owners and remained under continuous decay due to lack of maintenance. The authors will report on surveys carried out on two historic farms showing how through on site and laboratory tests the progressive decay of materials and structure could be monitored. This decay is causing the total loss of one of the two farms while the other could be saved by restoration and repair intervention.

… Nazionale ANIDIS 'L' …, 2007

Nell'articolo si presenta l'analisi di vulnerabilità del centro storico di Castelluccio... more Nell'articolo si presenta l'analisi di vulnerabilità del centro storico di Castelluccio di Norcia (PG), caratterizzato da numerosi aspetti significativi, nonché complessi, di vulnerabilità intrinseca degli edifici storici di muratura, rielaborata dalle fasi costruttive e dall'evoluzione ...