Calibration of a FEM model with complex geometry: The case study of Santa Maria Maddalena church in Ischia, Italy

Abstract

The technology of the Bourbonic casa Baraccata is one of the earliest earthquake resisting systems, used since the 18th century across Southern Italy in response to the disastrous earthquakes that hit the region frequently. The church of Santa Maria Maddalena in Casamicciola Terme, Ischia Island, Italy, represents one of the very rare examples, with a unicity lying on the combination of materials adopted. It presents the regular Bourbonic Baraccato walls in the back portion, and tuff-masonry walls embraced in iron frames in the main body. The paper aims at presenting the development of a 3D Finite Element Model (FEM) calibrated taking advantage of ambient vibration tests performed under operational conditions. Sensitivity analyses allowed to inspect and validate several modeling strategies and explore the relevance of the data still unknown to define a reliable numerical model to perform the study on the seismic behavior of the church of Santa Maria Maddalena.