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A knowledge-based approach for the structural assessment of cultural heritage, a case study: La Sapienza Palace in Pisa

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Abstract

The full knowledge of the morphological evolution of an historical masonry building, defined more as ‘structural aggregate’ than as ‘single construction’, together with the analysis of the architectural, structural, geological and geotechnical aspects, allow the assessment of the static safety and seismic vulnerability of the complex and the design of retrofit interventions. In the present paper, a Knowledge-Based-Approach is applied to the historical building ‘Palazzo La Sapienza’ in Pisa, allowing to provide reliable results concerning the actual structural condition of the building avoiding the strong computational effort usually associated to the execution of refined numerical analyses. In case of complex buildings, characterized by a high heterogeneity of materials, structural typologies, geometries and so on, the adoption of a global model is not always useful to represent the effective structural behaviour. The proposed approach shows how a deep multidisciplinary knowledge of the construction can limit the use of cumbersome numerical modelling and analysis, however reaching reliable and accurate results usable also in the current practice.

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Acknowledgments

The Authors thank the University of Pisa and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage that allowed and supported the execution of the present study. The Authors would like to thank Eng. G. Chellini, M. Donati, S. Cavallini and M. Di Ruscio, expert technicians of the “Laboratorio Ufficiale per le Esperienze sui Materiali da Costruzione” of Pisa University for the execution of experimental tests on masonry structures, foundations, vaults and storey and for the installation of the monitoring systems and, Eng. S. Burchi, of the “Technical Maintenance Office” of the University of Pisa, for the excellent work executed in the organization and coordination of activities developed inside the building. For their participation in the architectural survey the Authors gratefully acknowledge the collaboration of V. Baffi, R. Bartali, G. Bruschi, E. S. Iozzi, G. Lombardi, F. Santaniello, A. A. Terranova, M. Valenti and, in particular, A. Fiorentini who collaborated to the elaboration of the building plans and to the reconstruction of the historical evolution of the building. Finally, it is necessary to thank D. Stiaffini for her contribution to interpreting the historical archive documents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale, University of Pisa, Largo L. Lazzarino 1, Pisa, Italy

    Silvia Caprili, Federico Mangini, Sandro Paci & Walter Salvatore

  2. Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Energia, dei Sistemi, del Territorio e delle Costruzioni, University of Pisa, Largo L. Lazzarino 1, Pisa, Italy

    Marco Giorgio Bevilacqua, Ewa Karwacka & Nunziante Squeglia

  3. Laboratorio Ufficiale per le Esperienze sui Materiali da Costruzione, University of Pisa, Largo L. Lazzarino 1, Pisa, Italy

    Riccardo Barsotti & Stefano Bennati

  4. Dipartimento di Scienze e Ingegneria della Materia e dell’Ambiente, Politechnical University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche 9, Ancona, Italy

    Giuseppe Scarpelli

  5. Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo, Via del Collegio Romano 27, Rome, Italy

    Paolo Iannelli

Authors
  1. Silvia Caprili
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  2. Federico Mangini
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  3. Sandro Paci
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  4. Walter Salvatore
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  5. Marco Giorgio Bevilacqua
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  6. Ewa Karwacka
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  7. Nunziante Squeglia
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  8. Riccardo Barsotti
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  9. Stefano Bennati
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  10. Giuseppe Scarpelli
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  11. Paolo Iannelli
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Correspondence to Silvia Caprili.

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Caprili, S., Mangini, F., Paci, S. et al. A knowledge-based approach for the structural assessment of cultural heritage, a case study: La Sapienza Palace in Pisa. Bull Earthquake Eng 15, 4851–4886 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-017-0158-y

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