An expert system for the seismic protection of architectural building heritage

Abstract

The definition of a form for the seismic protection of Architectural Building Heritage, a work carried out for the Italian Research Council, has led to the implementation of a knowledge system, that presently consents to partially analyse the walls of historical buildings. Among other things the system uses geometrical reasoning techniques that permit to survey the building by means of articulation and composition of elementary items, “built”, case by case, with a specific geometric, material and constructive entity. Such items can represent an elementary section of the building, for instance a pillar, an arch, a brick etc., and starting from their position and characteristics the walls and all the used masonry and finishing types can be individuated in detail without the necessity of applying to approximate formulations or to formal and typological evaluations that, with their rigid terminologies, can oversimplify the complex of historical buildings and their importance in the context.