Advanced numerical analyses by the Non‐Smooth Contact Dynamics method of an ancient masonry bell tower

By A. Ferrante, Francesco Clementi, Gabriele Milani. Mathematical methods in the applied sciences, 2020

48 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Advanced numerical analyses were carried out in order to assess the nonlinear dynamical behaviour of the bell tower of Pomposa Abbey in Codigoro, in the province of Ferrara (Italy), by means of the Non‐Smooth Contact Dynamics (NSCD) method. The main purpose of the work is to investigate the capacity of the main mechanical parameter used in the analyses, namely, the friction coefficient, to have effects on the mechanical response of ancient masonry structures undergoing seismic actions. Therefore, the tower was modelled following the discrete element method (DEM) and assembling the masonry texture as rigid bodies tied by frictional joints. Thus a discontinuous approach was used to assess the dynamic properties and the vulnerability of the masonry structure, through large deformations regulated by the Signorini's law, concerning the impenetrability between the rigid bodies; and by the Coulomb's law, regarding the dry‐friction model. Afterward, different values were assigned to the friction coefficient of the models, and a variety of real seismic shocks have been applied in the nonlinear analyses. Finally, it is possible to see different failure mechanisms resulting for each friction value and types of dynamic actions used, as expected.

Subfields: Civil and Structural Engineering

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f3a198d20be095e25ee5d80f14699307369424eb

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Civil and Structural Engineering

  1. Gianni Bartoli
  2. L. Pallarés
  3. Michele Betti
  4. Francisco Javier Pallarés

Citations in the corpus