FE Modeling of a Historic Masonry Tower and Vibration-Based Systematic Model Tuning

Abstract

The paper presents and discusses the procedure developed for the calibration of the struc¬tural FE model of a Bell-Tower, within a wide investigation program aimed to support the preserva¬tion and restoration actions. Ambient vibrations induced by wind, micro-tremors and swinging of bells were recorded and the identified modal parameters, together with geometric and crack pattern survey were used to calibrate a 3D F.E. of the tower.

Modal identification of localised damage in beams and trusses: experimental and numerical results

“…A first step in this direction is the definition of an accurate numerical model of the structure in its actual conditions, including the identification of possible damages. To this respect, the identification of modal properties, as natural frequencies, modal damping coefficients and mode shapes in a linear elastic structure can be used to verify the correspondence of a Finite Element (FE) model of the structure to its real behaviour, updating the numerical model on the base of experimental tests (D'Ambrisi et al 2012;Diaferio et al 2015Diaferio et al , 2018Gentile and Saisi 2010;Potenza et al 2015;Ivorra et al 2016;Antonacci et al 2012;Sepe et al 2005aSepe et al , b, 2017Valente et al 2016;Bedon et al 2016). Moreover, the experimental modal analysis techniques are able to highlight some peculiarities of the structural response that are usually neglected or that are difficult to be evaluated in the design process (as the influence of the non-structural elements on the dynamical response of the building, the presence of inhomogeneities, etc.…”

Modal identification of damaged frames

“…Another advantage of the dynamical identification is the possibility to obtain a reliable finite element (FE) model by updating a less refined one, until a satisfactory matching is obtained between its numerical results with the real experimental response [19][20][21][22][23][24]. In the field of dynamical identification procedures, many studies deal with the problems connected to damage detection [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44].…”