Laser-Scanner Survey of Structural Disorders: An Instrument To Inspect the History of Parma Cathedral’s Central Nave

Abstract

ABSTRACT:This paper presents the use of laser scanner derived data for the study of the structural disorders in the central nave of the Parma Cathedral. An accurate three-dimensional model of the entire nave was realized to investigate deformations, in order to reconstruct the original conformation and the subsequent evolutions, also in comparison with previous surveys. Specifically, for the analysis presented in the paper, seven scans were performed, one for each bay: the results allowed to compare the deformations on the seven vaults, on the transverse and diagonal arches, giving first hints on the possible differences in the behaviour between the different elements. The measures on the levels of floor and pillars bases were analysed in a historical monitoring approach, in order to retrace the evolution of the differential settlements in time, since the construction of the building. Moreover, a structural analysis has been carried out on one transverse arch with distinct element analysis, with two different approaches. In one case, the structure was inserted exactly as surveyed, and then subjected to the actions. In the second case, the original geometry, before the deformation, was retraced through a parametric approach and the structural analysis basically started at the beginning of the building's life, thus trying to model not only the present structural situation, but also the path which led to the current deformation. The results were particularly meaningful as they showed that in the first case, disregarding the footsteps of history, the stress pattern inside the masonry was very different from the one obtained in the second case, which is more likely to represent the present conditions.

History, Geometry, Structure: Interdisciplinary Analysis of a Historical Bridge

“…Identifying and quantifying soil settlements and deformations allow to define boundary conditions that retrace the history of the monument. A structural analysis that disregards these data can instead lead to completely unreliable results (Bruno et al, 2017, Coïsson et al, 2018 Thanks to the high precision survey previously described, it has been possible to compare the realized infrastructure and the original project and to inspect the geometrical unevenness. Indeed, the measured differences between them can give important information on the historical transformations of the bridge during the construction phase, and on the deformation suffered by the structure during time, thus constituting the "historical monitoring" method (Coïsson and Ottoni, 2015).…”