The DETECT-AGING prototype building, a benchmark for structural health monitoring of masonry structures

Many studies as well as recent earthquakes underlined the vulnerability against seismic events of unreinforced masonry buildings, which represent most of the Italian building heritage. The effects of degradation and ageing have received much less attention, in particular as far as their consequences in terms of structural safety are concerned. The adoption of monitoring systems on buildings may represent a possible solution, because they allow to analyze the variations of structural parameters over time and eventually detect damage. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems have the potential to support pro-active risk management, panning structural interventions when specific thresholds related to a known performance loss are achieved, rather than intervene on a periodical basis or after a harmful event. The present paper illustrates the main features of a unique testing prototype consisting of a model masonry building featuring single room with a vault at first floor and a wooden floor at the roof. The building is equipped with a hybrid SHM system, which is based on the acquisition and processing of both vibration and strain measurements. The first results of the experimental campaign on this building model are presented, in terms of modal features from the as built original condition.