Seismic Vulnerability Assessment Research Papers (original) (raw)

Since the discovery in the Eighteenth century, the archaeological site of Pompeii - and in general of the Vesuvius centres - has been, and it is still today, the field of a battle, which attempts to ensure the survival
of ruins. These artefacts are characterized by “fatigued” materials, have not roof structures and, therefore, are lacking in constraints. Furthermore, they are exposed to the strongly aggressive atmospheric
pollution of the cities of the 21th century and are located in areas where the expected ground acceleration
values are of medium degree. Moreover, the methods necessarily of “integral” conservation aimed
at preserving both the material and the original configuration allow “soft interventions” that moderately
improve the response of ruins to the stresses deriving from gravitational loads and, primarily, from seismic
actions.
This paper is framed in the context of the research project Analysis, interpretation and evaluation of the
seismic vulnerability of the construction elements constituting the archaeological apparatus of the Pompeii
site, signed in March 2018 between the Department of Architecture of the University of Florence
and the Parco Archeologico di Pompei.
The herein contribution is aimed at describing the methodology used for the definition of a thematic
reference map, based on the definition of the values of the site risk indices. Preliminarily, the developed
methodology includes investigations on the seismic behaviour of the single construction elements -
arches, vaults, colonnades, free walls and walls with various types of constraints, non-structural elements
etc. - in their variability of geometry, masonry organization and material characteristics, crack and deformation
pattern. The evolutionary aspect of the construction, with particular regard to the strategies put
in place by the ancient Romans to repair or reinforce the damaged buildings, is also taken into account.
Such a detected potential level of damage, in terms of limit states, will be obtained through calculation
codes (some of them have also been developed by the authors) developed to predict the behaviour
of ancient artefacts. Subsequently, the achieved data will be related and implemented considering theoccurrences of single construction elements
in the archaeological site, the interactions with contiguous buildings as well as possible site-effects, thus creating a seismic risk map for each individual insula.