Monitoring and Real Field Data for Understanding the Structural Behaviour and Health of Historical Buildings

The monumental buildings are an important part of cultural heritage, which have to be preserved for future generations in order to transmit their history, culture and art, having also to meet the practical test of utility and a suitable safety level. In the knowledge process of the historical buildings, a fundamental contribution is played by the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) whose aim is to evaluate the evolution of the structural health through a continuous real-time monitoring by means small removable sensors. Several historical monuments have been equipped with monitoring systems, but no standardized procedure for systematic interpretation of the data acquired by static SHM is yet available. The main purpose of the current work is to introduce an approach for a standardized analysis of the data recorded by a static SHM system installed in an historical buildings. The identification of a stationary or evolutionary “condition” has been evaluated through the introduction of specific descriptors. This approach is intended as a contribution to move forward in the systematic use of the data acquired by the monitoring system within a policy for management of cultural buildings. The data acquired by the monitoring system allow also to calibrate and validate the numerical models adopted for the structural analyses of the monuments. However, to conceive a unique tool able to describe all the possible structural responses of the historical masonry monuments is complex, and most likely impossible. Results that are more reliable can be obtained by employing a multi-analysis method that integrates different approaches. The second purpose is to provide a summary of the studies conducted on the Cathedral of Modena aimed at its reliable structural assessment based on a multi-disciplinary multi-analysis approach, integrating the real field data obtained by the SHM.