A reconstruction hypothesis of collapsed archaeological masonry barrel vaults employing frictional bearings, with application to the case study of the Galleria delle Volte Crollate, in Rome

This paper presents a study of a reconstruction hypothesis of collapsed masonry vaults with archaeological value, by taking advantage of the features of frictional bearings, either flat or curvilinear. Such study finds a natural application to the case of the “Galleria delle Volte Crollate”, which is a collapsed rubble masonry barrel vault, dating back to the I century BC and placed in the Roman Forum, in Italy. The proposed intervention strategy is based on the need to fulfill both philological and structural criteria. As to the former, the solution has to reconstruct the original geometry, while suggesting the historical memory of the occurred collapse. As to the latter, both geometrical and tribological features of the isolation system have to be designed in order to fulfill both static and seismic ultimate limit states. This design can be carried out by means of a parametric study. In fact, based on the case-studyherein dealt with, parametric studies are conducted in order to single out the values of the parameters corresponding to the optimal solution. Non-linear dynamical analyses with sitespectrum compatible accelerograms are performed by means of the commercial Finite Element software SAP2000®. The innovative aspects of the proposed solutions are highlighted along with limits and possible further developments.