Damage scenario-driven strategies for the seismic monitoring of XX century spatial structures with application to Pier Luigi Nervi’s Turin Exhibition Centre

Damage and stiffness degradation in non-structural elements are known to strongly affect the global dynamic response of buildings subject to seismic excitation. This is particularly true for complex structural schemes, such as those characterizing XX century shell and spatial architectures. Moreover, degrading behaviours will strongly influence the design of seismic monitoring systems, which are deemed to be a non-invasive protection strategy for cultural heritage. This paper concerns the optimal sensor placement for vibration-based monitoring of one of the vaulted structures realized by Pier Luigi Nervi in the Turin Exhibition Centre. Based on finite element numerical models and optimization algorithms, the sensor placement in such peculiar structures should also take into account the possible effects of non-structural elements. The objective function used for optimizing sensor placement has been modified in order to account for the progressive damage in infill walls. The final scope of this work was, thus, to propose a damage scenario-driven sensor placement strategy accounting for concurrent damage scenarios, as those affecting spatial architectures.