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Dynamic Characterization of Trajan's Column

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Dynamic Characterization of Trajan's Column SAHC2014 – 9th International Conference on Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions F. Peña & M. Chávez (eds.) Mexico City, Mexico, 14–17 October 2014 DYNAMIC CHARACTERIZATION OF TRAJAN'S COLUMN P. Clemente1, G. Bongiovanni2, G. Buffarini3 and F. Saitta4 1 ENEA, Casaccia Research Centre Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy [email protected] 2 ENEA, Casaccia Research Centre Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy [email protected] 3 ENEA, Casaccia Research Centre Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy [email protected] 4 ENEA, Casaccia Research Centre Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy [email protected] Keywords: experimental dynamic analysis, operational modal analysis, cultural heritage. Abstract. The importance of studying the health status of monuments relies in their preserva- tion effort but also in the historical analysis of earthquakes. The historical seismicity has been reconstructed thanks to historical documents that reports descriptions about the damages of monuments. This information is very important also because lots of monuments can still be observed and analyzed and so the characteristics of past earthquakes can be estimated. But the analysis and interpretation of the historical documents should also accounting for the present structural health status of monuments, which is influenced by material degradation, changes in loads, seismic actions, traffic-induced vibrations, presence of other buildings. The experimental analysis plays and important role. The Trajan's Column in Rome has been the subject of the study shown in this paper. Ambient and traffic-induced vibrations were record- ed in order to characterize dynamically the column and to point out same aspects of its be- haviour. The results have been compared with those obtained in previous campaigns. P. Clemente, G. Bongiovanni, G. Buffarini and F. Saitta 1 INTRODUCTION The Trajan’s Column, conceived by architect Apollodoros of Damascus, is a commemora- tive monument decorated with reliefs illustrating the two military campaigns of the Roman emperor Trajan in Dacia (modern Romania) between 101 and 102, and between 105 and 106 A.D., respectively. It was erected in 113 A.D., and was the first of several such monuments. It is also an invaluable source of information about the Roman Army and a lasting testimony to the Roman love of monumental architecture constructed to celebrate military victories and Roman leaders. The column is 29.78 m tall and is composed by 19 blocks of Italian white marble. It stands on an 8-block base and is topped by a two-block pedestal. Originally a 4.8 m bronze statue of emperor Trajan stood at the top, then it was replaced by the statue of St. Peter in 1588 A.D. After the emperor’s death in 117 A.D. his ashes were buried within the founda- tions of the column. Figure 1 shows the column and interesting cross sectional view of the structure [1]. During cleaning operation between 1980 and 1985 Giuffrè noticed some minor cracks, a couple of which could be attributed to earthquakes [2, 3]. Figure 1: View of the Trajan's Column and the Rondelet relief of the structure [3] The interest in the structural analysis of the Trajan’s Column relies in the preservation ef- fort of historical monuments with particular reference to this structural type but also in the analysis of historical earthquakes. In fact, the historical seismicity has been reconstructed thanks to historical documents that reports descriptions about the damages of monuments. This information is very important also because lots of monuments can still be observed and analyzed and so the characteristics of past earthquakes can be estimated [4]. On the other hand the analysis and interpretation of the historical documents should also account for the present structural health status of monuments, which is influenced by material degradation, changes in loads, seismic actions, traffic-induced vibrations, presence of other buildings. A 2 Dynamic Characterization of the Trajan’s Column complete study should include a reliable experimental analysis and a successive numerical modelling [5, 6, 7]. The first step is described in this paper. Ambient and traffic-induced vi- brations were recorded, which allowed to characterize the column and to point out same fea- tures of its dynamic behaviour. 2 PREVIOUS EXPERIMENTAL TESTS 2.1 Experimental analysis In the framework of a large project organized by ENEA in collaboration with the So- printendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici (SSBA) of Rome and ISMES the effects of the traffic-induced vibrations on several monuments in Rome were investigate [8, 9, 10, 11]. The Trajan's Column was one of these. The experimental study was carried out in the 1985. Data analyses were performed both in time and frequency domain [12]. Eighteen Teledyne-Geotech seismometers were used, six of them were deployed in vertical direction and twelve in horizontal radial and tangential directions (Figure 2). The signals rec- orded in analog form on magnetic tape, were then amplified and filtered, and finally sent to an A/D converter and acquired with a sampling step of 0.005 sec. Five measurement series were performed, lasting 90 minute each, at different times of the day. The portions of recordings with highest energy content were extracted and analyzed. The main results can be summarized as follows. The vibration amplitudes recorded on the column were very low, with peak values of 0.10 mm/sec along the column, and of 0.05 mm/sec on the pedestal; the velocity module on the basement was 0.14 mm/sec. The spectral analysis pointed out a resonance frequency at 1.60 Hz, associated to the first modal shape of the structure; other significant peaks were in the range [5.5, 9.0] Hz. Figure 2: View of the column with sensors deployment and experimental first modal shape (previous experi- mental campaign). 3 P. Clemente, G. Bongiovanni, G. Buffarini and F. Saitta 2.2 Numerical modeling The finite element models of the column was composed of beam elements, fully con- strained one to the other, with geometrical characteristics equal to those of the stone blocks, and material characterized by a weight density =27.00 kN/m3 and a Poisson's ratio =0.25. The value of the Young's modulus of the blocks was chosen in order to optimize the corre- spondence between the experimental and numerical results (E=20000 N/mm2). The pedestal was divided in four beam elements. Since the signal analysis did not show the presence of soil-structure interaction effects, the column was considered fixed at its base. The dynamic analysis gave the frequencies reported in Table 1, which were very similar to those of the obtained experimentally, as well as the first modal shape (Figure 3). Table 1. Experimental and numerical frequencies. Mode Exp. freq. Num. freq. (Hz) (Hz) 1 1.60 1.7 2 - 9.0 The numerical model was used in the response spectrum analysis performed according to the Italian code assuming the input parameters valid for low seismicity areas. The effects of the first three modal shapes were superimposed. The results obtained demonstrated that the values of the ratio between the shear force and the normal force were quite low and, in partic- ular, much lower than the dynamic and the static friction coefficients of the marble. Further- more the stresses caused by environmental vibrations and weak earthquakes were low. So the limitations of the model proved to be inessential, the basic assumptions being al- ways satisfied. Actually, the assumption of linearity is valid as long as the friction between the blocks is not exceeded and no tensile stresses are present, namely the resultant of the loads is not out of the core of inertia at each section. In the first case slippage would occur, resulting in the loss of the geometry of the column. In the second one the effective section changes and the resistant structure varies. This last difficulty could be overcome by introducing no tension gap elements in the model, corresponding to the discontinuity of the soft elements. 3 NEW INSTRUMENTATION AND TESTS In March 2012 a new large experimental campaign was carried out. The instrumentation used consisted of nine Kinemetrics short period (1 Hz) seismometers SS-1 connected to 1 Kinemetrics K2 recorder, positioned in two layout (Figure 3). In the first (Layout a): • three sensors (CH01, CH02 and CH03, respectively in y, vertical and x direction) were at the base of the pedestal, at the lowest level of the staircase, • three sensors (CH08 and CH10 in y direction, CH09 in x direction) were at the base of the column, just above the top of the pedestal, • three sensors (CH11 and CH13 in y direction, CH12 in x direction) were at the top of the column. In the second one (Layout b): • three sensors (CH01, CH02 and CH03, respectively in y, vertical and x direction) were at the base of the pedestal, at the lowest level of the staircase, • three couple of sensors were at the base, at the mid and at the top of the column, respec- tively. 4 Dynamic Characterization of the Trajan’s Column Figure 2: Sensors layouts a (left) and b (right) Time and frequency domain analysis ⁄ The peak values and the effective peak values ( [∫ ⁄( )] , t2 - t1=1.28 sec) were calculated, distinguishing the portion of the record during the day and that during the night, in order to estimate the effects of ambient noise due to different sources. From the results, reported in Table 2, one can deduce that there is no evidence of significant variation from day to night. Table 2. Comparison of peak values in Layout a Sensor Day peak Day effective Night peak Night effective values peak values values peak values (mm/sec) (mm/sec) (mm/sec) (mm/sec) 13 0.0744 0.0366 0.0649 0.0262 11 0.0980 0.0419 0.0947 0.0316 10 0.1035 0.0361 0.1012 0.0395 08 0.1040 0.0370 0.0998 0.0408 01 0.0475 0.0170 0.0384 0.0177 12 0.1086 0.0490 0.0915 0.0338 09 0.0809 0.0291 0.0793 0.0336 03 0.0442 0.0148 0.0520 0.0193 02 0.0465 0.0196 0.0453 0.0212 5 P.
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