Giacomo Tempesta - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Giacomo Tempesta

Since 2003, when a stunned Italy witnessed the collapse of the school in San Giuliano di Puglia (... more Since 2003, when a stunned Italy witnessed the collapse of the school in San Giuliano di Puglia (CB) due to a major seismic event, Italian technical regulations for constructions have been subjected to continual changes and additions, until the adoption of DM 14-01-2008. It highlights the Italian trend to move towards Eurocodes. The new regulations, for how they were conceived, require professional architects and engineers structural calculations, which can not be carried out by hand, without the aid of a special structural software in Civil Engineering. In this paper the authors would like to present a software for the analysis of the stability of masonry cross-vaults, deriving from their own scientific research and which has been put at everyone's disposal by a software-house which has shown immediately interest in the proposed topic.

The 62 AD represents for Pompeii the beginning of a sequence of telluric events culminating with ... more The 62 AD represents for Pompeii the beginning of a sequence of telluric events culminating with the complete town burial provoked by the Vesuvius’ eruption. The traces of those earthquakes, some of which of high magnitude able to produce damage to the constructions, are still detectable on the ancient structures. The paper analyzes some significant masonry walls of the Terme Stabiane emphasizing cracks and deformations due to two distinct earthquakes, by evaluating the reconstruction, repair and strengthening interventions carried out during the roman age. Furthermore, a constructive analysis, conducted on the buttress present in the destrictarium and regarding the materials and their organization, with the aid of the Mechanics, have provided information on the chronology of the events occurred, in sequence, during the 1st century AD.

The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2020

The triumphal arch of Caracalla in the Roman archaeological site of Volubilis dates back to 216 A... more The triumphal arch of Caracalla in the Roman archaeological site of Volubilis dates back to 216 AD. It was built in a strategic position at the intersection of the main roads leading to the Forum, the decumanus maximus to the east and the roads from Porte à trios baies to the west, that almost certainly was the main gate to the city. The current arrangement of the monument is the result of a restoration intervention carried out in the 1930s by French restorers. Some ancient photos witness that the monument was just a ruin in 1915, when Chatelain carried out the former archaeological excavations and, as a consequence, that it was totally rebuilt. In fact, the monument suffered wide damages provoked by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, that affected also Morocco, which almost completely destroyed it. By means of the drawings made by the travelers Henry Boyde and John Windus, that retraced the monument thirty years before the earthquake, the original configuration of the monument can be observed and the timeline of events can be reconstructed. In this paper, the timeline of the seismic events that affected the triumphal arch is reconstructed and investigated by means of a structural analysis based on a rigid-block model. Finally, with the purpose of preventing future damage, the seismic vulnerability level of the construction is assessed with reference to its current configuration.

Unilateral Problems in Structural Analysis — 2, 1987

Icf11 Italy 2005, May 27, 2013

The paper deals with a numerical procedure available for the analysis of unreinforced masonry str... more The paper deals with a numerical procedure available for the analysis of unreinforced masonry structures. The model is capable of predicting the likelihood of cracking and the expected crack widths. Masonry is modelled on a discrete system of rigid blocks connected by unilateral elastic contact constraints. The numerical algorithm is based on the introduction of suitable distortion terms capable to generate internal coactions such as to give back the compatibility in the sign conditions where tensile stresses are not admissible. The distortion terms can be interpreted as cracks caused in the material because of the notension behaviour. A convenient way to define the 'contact device' which links adjacent blocks, through which a mortar joint could be simulated, is to consider a sort of Drucker's model consisting of a set of elastic links orthogonal to the contact surface between two adjacent blocks, and an additional link tangent to the same contact surface. In accordance with the assumption that only compressive forces can be transmitted from one element to another, no tensile strength in the joints is considered. Through the results of the numerical procedure it is possible both to define and locate the cracking pattern, highlighting the actual reacting structure, within the apparent one, and to evaluate the width of the cracks located in the joints.

In the fourth section of his book "La statique graphique et ses applications aux constructions", ... more In the fourth section of his book "La statique graphique et ses applications aux constructions", Chapter II, Cupoles en maçonnerie, published in Paris in 1888, Maurice Lévy deals with the problem related to the stability of masonry domes provided with variable thickness. Lévy's idea is based on the fact that in any type of dome there are two types of behaviour: the first refers to the portion of shell where, both along the meridians and parallels, there are only compressive stresses, the second relates to the part in which the parallels are intraction.The unknown of the problem is to determine the location of the parallel where the transition occurs between the two different conditions, that is, what Lévy calls the "point neutre". Lévy suggests the use of an original graphical method, that he describes in detail, which initial setting is largely due to a previous work of H.T. Eddy.

AID MONUMENTS - Conoscere, Progettare, Ricostruire, 2013

RIPAM 8.5 Villages et quartiers à risque d’abandon. Stratégies pour la connaissance, la valorisation et la restauration. INTERMEDIATE CONFERENCE, 2020

Reconstruir en adobe en Chincha Altra (Peru') : análisis, consideraciones y propuestas, 2011

International Journal of Architectural Heritage

Congresso internazionale "Le cupole nel mondo" - "Domes in the World", 2012

Poster for the "Construire face au risque naturel dansles sociétés anciennes" C... more Poster for the "Construire face au risque naturel dansles sociétés anciennes" Conference, Naples, 6-7 September 2019, Centre Jean Bérard Italian Abstract: Il 62 d.C. è l’anno che segna l’inizio di un periodo caratterizzato da una serie di terremoti che si manifestarono, con continuità, fino alla completa distruzione di Pompei causata dall’eruzione del Vesuvio del 79 d.C. Gli effetti della suddetta sequenza sismica e, successivamente, dei flussi piroclastici prodotti dall’eruzione, ancora oggi leggibili sui manufatti, costituiscono un repertorio di dati essenziali per ripercorrere la storia degli eventi che hanno caratterizzato l’edificato dell’antica città campana. La ricerca proposta si fonda proprio su queste evidenze, tentando di ricostruire da un lato la sequenza degli eventi sismici e la dinamica eruttiva, dall’altro l’intensità delle azioni esercitate sulle costruzioni da questi ultimi e le misure attuate dagli antichi pompeiani per rinforzare e mettere in sicurezza l’edificato danneggiato. L’approccio utilizzato è di tipo olistico, includendo nell’analisi, oltre alle tradizionali scienze storiche, elementi di meccanica dei materiali e di meccanica delle strutture. Presentato attraverso tre casi studio paradigmatici, le Terme Stabiane (VII, 1, 8), la Torre di Mercurio (torre XI) della cinta muraria nord e il colonnato del Foro civile, il contributo proposto si compone di una prima fase di reperimento dei dati archeologici esistenti in letteratura, di un dettagliato rilievo dei tagli, deformazioni e dislocazioni caratterizzanti tuttora i manufatti, seguita da annotazioni inerenti all’organizzazione dell’apparecchio murario e delle caratteristiche di forma. Tali dati, supportati dai risultati ottenuti attraverso codici di calcolo, alcuni dei quali sviluppati ad hoc per l’analisi di casi specifici, hanno consentito, in maniera poco usuale rispetto ai modelli predittivi di impiego comune nell’analisi delle strutture, di ripercorrere passo dopo passo il comportamento manifestato dai manufatti analizzati in occasione degli eventi sismici e durante l’eruzione di I secolo.

Masonry Construction in Active Seismic Regions

Abstract The Borbone antiseismic system, which was born following the earthquake that hit Calabri... more Abstract The Borbone antiseismic system, which was born following the earthquake that hit Calabria Ulteriore in 1783, destroying a large part of the built environment and causing more than 35,000 victims, is analyzed here in light of very different knowledge and disciplines. The comparison is between the analysis of historical sources, the profound recognition and detailed survey of the construction technique, the experimental tests on faithful reproductions, and the validation of the physical-mathematical models, typical tools of contemporary seismic culture. From this comparison of methods and disciplines, typical of History, Conservation and Structural Engineering, a deep knowledge of the technique and the implications of this construction system and a generic judgment of efficacy and modernity are obtained. In addition, detailed mathematical models, capable of reproducing the experimental tests, have been calibrated and validated, and these are the first step toward a coarse modeling of an entire building, as well as a further contribution to the modeling of other wood-framed masonry systems. This work also helps to combat the skepticism of those who consider historical construction systems too complex to be framed in modern safety and risk theory.

The paper deals with the structural analysis of polygonal masonry domes provided with thickness. ... more The paper deals with the structural analysis of polygonal masonry domes provided with thickness. A numerical procedure is presented through which the actual behaviour of the material is considered in the analysis. The structure is modelled as a discrete system of rigid blocks linked through elastic mortar layers. No-tension behaviour of the material is supposed totally concentrated in the mortar joints located in between the adjacent blocks. Such a joint can therefore be assumed as an unilateral elastic contact constraint. The solution is achieved by a step by step algorithm in which the starting solution, relative to the standard material (linear elastic and bilateral), is subsequently corrected according to the actual material skills. The numerical procedure can be applied to the analysis of any type of polygonal masonry domes, with spherical or pointed shape, subject to self weight loads, complete or with hole and lantern. As a particular case of analysis, some interesting remark...