Evaluation study on structural fault of a Renaissance Italian palace

This paper discusses the cracking pattern in a historical Italian palace proposing a diagnosis for the origin of the actual damage state. The analyzed building, which dates back to the seventeenth century, is a masonry building with a rectangular plan section located in Piancastagnaio (South Tuscany, Italy). The building exhibits a severe and variegated vertical and horizontal cracking pattern mainly affecting the southern and eastern façades. Due to the damage, the palace was evacuated by the Public Authorities during the 1980s and a series of provisional remedies (mainly steel chains) was added. Through the use of the finite element technique, the paper provides an interpretation of the manifested damage. The aim of the diagnosis, supported by the numerical results, is to design an extensive in-situ investigation on the palace. Moreover, the paper aims at evaluating the effectiveness of the actual temporary retrofitting (mainly steel chains) used to freeze the present damage. At the end of the paper the in-situ investigation is presented and discussed.