Structural damage assessment and rehabilitation

Research focus

The Peer review has evaluated this group as Good

The research activity within this topic is in progress in two main areas. The first area deals with structural damage assessment in the so called “Modern Structures and Buildings” that comprise the mixed structures (masonry/reinforced concrete) and the reinforcedconcrete structures built in the XX century. Particular attention has been – and still is - devoted to tall buildings like the Pirelli Tower, the Velasca Tower and the Galfa Tower (all in Milan), that are outstanding examples of the pioneering activity of Italian architects and engineers in the domain of RC tall buildings (in the mid-fifties and early sixties of the XX century most tall buildings still had a steel structure). For each of these buildings specific investigations have been carried out which check the actual state of both the structural members and the façade panels. The results concerning the state of the weathered materials and structures have been obtained in cooperation with a number of MS students, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for earning their MS degree. Further results and design indications are expected soon from the tests that are in progress in a wind tunnel and that will be the basis for investigating the dynamic response of the aforementioned tall buildings and of other similar buildings. The second area deals with the improvement of the evaluation methods (in-situ checks, experimental and numerical techniques) for the assessment of the damage level in existing masonry structures and in their materials. The best known in-situ test methods for historical masonry are those based on micro-seismic wave excitation, that require dedicated codes, since the commercially-available codes are inadequate. Once the results coming from the tests are processed and the compatibility of new materials with the original ones is confirmed, the best rehabilitation strategy can be identified and well-known strategies can be improved.

Departments

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale (DIS)

Professors

Full Professors
Ronca Paola
Franchi Alberto
Migliacci Antonio
Vitiello Edmondo
Assistant Professors
Acito Maurizio
Coronelli Dario