SEISMIC RESPONSE OF HISTORICAL MASONRY CHURCHES: THE CASE OF THE BANAT ROMANIAN REGION

The seismic events of the recent decades allowed us to comprehend the vulnerabilities of the historical built heritage and the fundamental role of prevention and safeguard strategies. This led us to study the seismic performances of historical constructions in Europe. This on-going research focuses on the built heritage in Romania, with particular attention to six typical masonry churches located in the Banat region, whose structural configuration is characterized by a long vaulted central nave and a bell tower included into the main façade. We firstly compare the seismic vulnerability of the six churches and estimate an intervention priorities scale through simplified risk assessment methods. Then, we present a more detailed vulnerability investigation focused on one of the churches, by means of global finite element modal linear analyses and assessment of local failures through adaptive limit analysis.