Methodologies for the evaluation of seismic vulnerability of complex masonry buildings: case histories in the historic centre of Sulmona

This paper describes a procedure, addressed to an articulated knowledge of the material, of the morphology and of the constructive aspects of the masonry structures, of the mechanical behaviour and of the possible failure mechanisms of complex buildings in Sulmona (AQ), an important historic centre in Central Italy. It is an area of great interest, not only considering its seismic history, but also because of the characteristics of its prestigious buildings, mainly made of multiple leaf stone masonry. The understanding of the historical buildings has made use of a direct survey of the constructions (based on a geometrical survey, on a survey of the materials and of their state of damage), of indirect information deduced by documentary sources, and of data collected through in-situ non destructive or minor destructive testing and laboratory investigation for a chemical, physical and mechanical characterisation of the masonry and of its components. Record templates and forms, some of them purposely set up, have been adopted and collected into a database for the damage and masonry quality assessment and the evaluation of the future vulnerability of the buildings to in-plane and out-of-plane actions according to damage abacuses previously produced.