The Non-Smooth Story of Different Masonry Towers Damaged by the Central Italy Seismic Sequence of 2016

Abstract

The Non-Smooth Contact Dynamics method (NSCD) has been applied to the study of the seismic response of different belfries inside the epicentral zone of the last Centre Italy earthquakes of August and October 2016. According to this model, the masonry towers have been modelled as a system of rigid blocks, and since the contacts between blocks are governed by the Signorini's impenetrability condition and by dry-friction Coulomb's law, the towers exhibit discontinuous dynamics. The NSCD method has proved to be a powerful tool for investigating the dynamics induced by ground seismic accelerations. Indeed, the numerical results have given a deep insight into the seismic vulnerability of these damaged towers, confirming several possible failure mechanisms.