One of the major problems faced by historic cities today involves the conservation of heritage buildings. Damage suffered by these buildings can be irreversible and fast-acting, leading to their disappearance over a short period. The study and analysis of the origin of the damage suffered by these buildings have proved themselves to be key to their conservation. Non-destructive testing (NDT) can detect problems indiscernible to the naked eye, thereby preventing potential losses. In this paper, a non-invasive method for the diagnosis of building structures integrated with the Finite Element Method (FEM) was applied to the Tabernacle Chapel; a building included in the northwest wing of the Cathedral of Seville complex. Despite the many interventions carried out to date, the issue of the chapel's deterioration has yet to be entirely solved. This research describes the results of a detailed constructive and structural diagnosis methodology for heritage buildings. The data provided from NDT methods, such as Digital Image Processing (DIP), Infrared Thermography (IRT), Laser Levelling (LL), Ambient Vibration Testing (AVT), and Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), has been verified and integrated as boundary conditions in a 3D Finite Element Method (FEM) in order to establish the critical points of the structure, including the failure mechanisms. The results led to the conclusion that the main causes of deterioration involved the settling of the grandstand built in the northwest sector of the building and the effects of the thrusts of the dome on the lateral façades. An integrated implementation methodology of NDT and FEM has enabled accurate knowledge to be ascertained of the principal damage affecting this heritage building.
La gestión de inmuebles históricos encuentra problemáticas específicas en el caso del patrimonio fortificado que se localiza en contextos urbanos: demoliciones, afecciones arqueológicas, deterioro, etc. Dichas cuestiones se ejemplifican en el caso de la muralla medieval de Sevilla, construida prevalentemente en tierra mediante la técnica del tapial. Estas entidades, de gran extensión y elevada complejidad, resultan idóneas para el empleo de sistemas de información geográfica (SIG). La gestión cartográfica digital (GCD) aboga por el uso de modelos simplificados que permiten alcanzar la definición de la escala arquitectónica, facilitando el posterior uso de herramientas tridimensionales. La transversalidad que exige la construcción de una base de datos destinada a la conservación preventiva, y su componente multiescalar, requieren de un importante proceso de normalización que debe abarcar sus componentes terminológica, temática y espacial. El presente artículo comparte los resultados alcanzados en esta fase del proceso, atendiendo a la caracterización básica de aquellos elementos identificados en el sector de la Macarena. La transversalidad que exige la construcción de una base de datos destinada a la conservación preventiva, y su componente multiescalar, requieren de un importante proceso de normalización que debe abarcar sus componentes terminológica, temática y espacial. El presente artículo comparte los resultados alcanzados en esta fase del proceso, atendiendo a la caracterización básica de aquellos elementos identificados en el sector de la Macarena.
This research explores the possibilities resulting from the use of three-dimensional (3D) models designed in GIS environments for their application to the management and conservation of historical architectonic heritage. This 3D modelling work is one of the strategic actions of the recently finished Master Plan for Conservation of Heritage Municipal Buildings (PD-PHiM) for the City of Seville (Spain). This plan deals with the analysis of a group of 115 municipally owned buildings of high heritage interest that include different typologies, chronologies scales, and uses. This investigation has complemented and continued the initial work begun by the Seville Spatial Data Infrastructure (ide.SEVILLA) in the field of 3D mapping of urban environments and its publication as institutional open data.
The implemented improvements started on an initial diagnosis of a preliminary urban model, which reached a level of detail (LOD) of 2, as defined by the CityGML standard, in only 20% of the registered assets in the PD-PHiM database. The proposed methodology has achieved the automation of most of the process of building 3D geo-referenced models to increase the percentage of assets that reach the LOD2 to 75%. The initial information comes from the use of institutional spatial data of different types and sources: Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), Spanish Cadastre Office, and so on. Additionally, the generated entities have been linked to a complex, multidisciplinary and multiscale database, designed within the framework of the strategic actions of the PD-PHiM.
The contributions of the proposal, especially in the automation of processes, imply a considerable saving of resources in comparison with other methods in which the modelling is eminently carried out manually. Thus, they are complementary to those that are related to the use of 3D modelling software intended for other purposes, with the consequent incompatibilities and hard interoperability procedures with GIS environments that this implies.
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