Discontinuous Dynamics of Santa Maria Annunziata Church Under Seismic Loading: A Non-smooth Contact Dynamics Approach

The dynamics the Santa Maria Annunziata church located in Camerino (Macerata province, Italy), subjected to transversal dynamic loadings has been analysed by using a distinct element code which implements the Non-Smooth Contact dynamics method. Since the contact between blocks is governed by the Signorini's impenetrability condition and the dry-friction Coulomb's law, the church exhibit discontinuous dynamics. The sliding motions of blocks are non-smooth functions of time. Numerical simulations are performed with the aim of investigating the influence of the friction coefficient and of some past retrofitting interventions on the global response. The results obtained are compared with the real damage that the Church suffered following the seismic sequence in central Italy in 2016, and for this reason the four main shock that strocked the area were used in the numerical analyses. A good agreement between the numerical and the real damages are finally obtained but it might be interesting to elaborate additional models in which the building presents different degrees of connection with the towers.