ABSTRACT
The structural capacity of masonry churches is generally hard to be investigated due to the complex geometry that characterize this relevant Heritage. Vaults, series of arches, flying buttresses, spiers, apse, dome, are often found in the field. Significant time efforts and costs are commonly expended in the geometrical survey. Traditional measuring results poorly accurate (randomly made within the construction), especially in case of huge buildings. On the other hand, modern technology, such as laser scanner, may result time consuming because of the data acquisition and elaboration. Moreover, the variation of thickness within the masonry members is often averaged and regularized since large endoscopy survey is forbitten for cultural Heritage restrictions. For this reason, in those cases in which the structure is affected, or even dominated, by stability issues, the accuracy of the analysis can be compromised without an adequate survey. In this scenario, the present study provides a case study concerning the analysis of a masonry church in which a main dome (> 15 m diameter) is placed on top. Both the base masonry walls and the dome have variable cross-sections. In order to achieve an accurate geometrical model, a drone was used for photogrammetry recognizing both outside and within the church. Then, the digital photos were computer elaborated according to their relative GPS-metadata. As a result, an accurate 3D-solid object was obtained. Finally, FEM analysis was performed in order to quantify the displacement capacity by pushover method.
