Development of Integrated Systems for Structural Health Monitoring and Earthquake Risk Managment in Historical Structures:STORM Approach

In the earthquake risk mitigation strategy of buildings, it is aimed to estimate the weaknesses of structures and to take engineering measures against these weaknesses (such as stabilization, strengthening or retrofitting) in order to improve structural performance towards earthquakes. Therefore, it is one of the crucial targets of performance evaluation and risk assessment strategies in structural engineering and it is widely achieved by developing fragility and/or capacity curves using analytical models of structures. However, the earthquake risk mitigation strategy in historical structures are strictly limited by provisions related to the protecting of CH (ICOMOS 2003 and ICCROM 1998). Thus, in the disaster risk management of historical buildings, it is necessary to carry out interdisciplinary studies not only to include engineering aspect, but also architectural conservation, restoration and first aid concerns as well. The H2020 STORM project, which is being implemented in this context, aims to develop an integrated platform for the monitoring and control of environmental and human-induced risks of historical structures at pilot sites in Europe. Ephesus amphitheater was chosen as the pilot site in Turkey. The integrated earthquake risk module of STORM consists of two sources of information, namely: engineering (pre-earthquake) and operational (post-earthquake). Before the arthquake, a numerical simulation is performed by generating the Finite Element Model (FEM) of the structure. A three dimensional (3D) numerical model will help visualize the behavior of the structure under seismic effects. The structure will then be analyzed using the FEM model in order to detect damage mechanisms for the entire structure and its vulnerability to seismic forces. A risk measure (engineering demand parameter: EDP) will be defined to indicate the damage state of the structure. It will be linked to three main objectives, namely, aesthetics, architectonic and structural. Each objective will then be subdivided into three different performance levels. In other words, the structural damage states will be transformed into meaningful information to provide first aid for different disciplines. In the second part, a health monitoring system will be developed for the structure. The structural health monitoring system is a quick and effective method for structural identification and assessment of the current state of the structures after an earthquake. The earthquake module will process the actual data coming from the site after the earthquake and compare it with the threshold values in question and provide preliminary information about whether the damage in the structure is cosmetic, architectural or structural or their combination. In this way, the authority would determine if it is okay to enter and use the structure, damage to fresques or requirements for restoration in the next few minutes after the earthquake and the authorities will be informed via short message. This will help activate emergency scenarios, define triage, and effective use of personnel after a disaster. This approach is related to the “first aid” response for humans, structure and restoration purposes. Because the platform will have a flexible architecture, it is expected to update the system by the addition of new structures to be analyze