Adolfo Alonso Durá

Analysis of the Structural Behavior of the Historical Constructions: Seismic Evaluation of the Cathedral of Valencia (Spain)

ABSTRACT Analysis of the structural behavior of the historical constructions by the damage model through mechanical characterization of the material obtained by laboratory tests. This analysis has been particularly applied to the case historical construction of the Cathedral of Valencia (Spain) which is a representative example of Mediterranean Gothic with a structure formed by two sets of diaphragmatic walls, breaking with the Central European Gothic canons. In this research we conducted laboratory tests of samples taken from the masonry, in order to use these mechanical properties of the material nonlinear numerical models so that the results will allow an accurate calibration of material behavior for both gravitational and seismic actions. The study carried out justifies the reasons behind the differences between the Mediterranean Gothic and the traditional. The necessity of the walls’ continuity will be demonstrated by the flying buttresses that turn into authentic diaphragm walls.