An Interdisciplinary Approach for the Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Historic Masonry Buildings: The Case Study of the Ex Jesuits College in Amantea (Italy)

The paper gives attention to the interdisciplinary approach used to solve the structural problems detected in the ex Jesuit College of Amantea (Italy), built in XVII century. The first objective of this study has been to identify the causes of the structural instabilities and to define the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of building materials. After, the attention has been focused on the vertical flexural mechanism linked to several factors, such as the absence of tie-rods and the important pushing forces of the vaults. These factors cause a no box-like behaviour of the structure. The characterization phase has achieved a high level of knowledge, which have allowed less onerous assessments. Through the kinematic analysis, the value of the seismic acceleration multiplier has been defined, performed on the mechanism considered more plausible in relation to the in act instabilities. After, a nonlinear analysis has been carried out to evaluate the system capacity curves, considering the unconsolidated and consolidated structure. The analyses have considered the reinforcement of the masonry building using traditional and innovative techniques. The curves obtained in relationship to the considered states (unconsolidated and consolidated) have been compared. At the end, the results of the analytical study has been correlated with the numerical one, performed in the linear field using the software 3MuriML. This paper highlights the controls of the careful structural surveys on the building in order to understand the behaviour of the masonry elements of the architecture.