Seismic Performance Assessment of a Strengthened Masonry Public Building in Tuscany

Masonry buildings constitute an important part of the Italian built heritage. They are highly vulnerable not only to seismic actions, since they were designed before the issuing of seismic codes, but sometimes also to static actions. Interventions that enable the achievement of current code standards are related to the level of knowledge obtained both on the structure and its geometric configuration. Structural strengthening interventions are used to improve the strength, stability and load carrying capacity of an existing structure. They are designed to integrate the existing structure by coupling them to the existing resisting system. The proposed intervention will ensure that the minimum standards required by the current codes are achieved and ensure, where possible, a box-like behavior to the structure. This paper illustrates the reinforcement intervention of a 20th-century masonry public building located in Tuscany. The proposed intervention allows to achieve the performance requirements through established intervention techniques compatible with the nature of the structure. The evaluation of the pre-intervention and post-intervention structural performance was carried out following the achievement of a high level of knowledge that allowed to identify with certainty the vulnerabilities present and to define with less uncertainty the level of safety achieved through the proposed interventions.