Towards a methodology for seismic assessment of monuments : the case study of Santa Maria of Belém Church

Abstract

This paper presents an integrated methodology for the seismic behavior characterization of ancient masonry structures of significant cultural heritage importance, towards the mitigation of the seismic risk. The proposed methodology is here applied to an outstanding case study composed by the Santa Maria of Belem Church, in Lisbon, Portugal. This Church was built during the 16lh century and is included in the Monastery of Jeronimos compound, which is one of the most emblematic Portuguese monuments. The methodology includes the following main steps: local seismic action characterization including site effects; simple numerical modelling for a preliminary knowledge of the structural behaviour; experimental mechanical characterization of materials and structural elements; establishment and installation of static and dynamic monitoring systems aiming at a better understanding of the static and dynamic behaviour; development of advanced numerical models including the necessary calibration against relevant experimental data; non-linear dynamic analysis of the structure for different earthquake levels. According to the non-linear dynamic analyses performed in the time domain, the results obtained so far show that the monument will be under great stress against a far-field earthquake as strong as M = 7.4 (475 yrp), able to cause damage but neither local or global collapse are to be expected.