SEISMIC VULNERABILITY OF BUILDING HERITAGE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA: METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS

Due to the recent code developments and of the growing attention given to the seismic safety of structures, especially after
\nthe last Italian earthquakes, the analysis and verification of existing building heritage have become a fundamental tool to
\nassess the seismic vulnerability, to safeguard human lives and to plan structural interventions.
\nThe Italian building heritage is characterized by high complexity and heterogeneity, both from architectural and structural
\npoints of view. It consists in structures built in various ages, placed both in the city center and in the outskirts, erected by
\ndifferent structural techniques and with different uses. For all these reasons, it is important to define a methodology to
\nobtain comparable results to plan the future activities of risk analysis, assessment and management.
\nBefore providing a result about the level of safety of an existing building, it is essential to acquire the right knowledge and
\nto choose a method of analysis that can capture as much as possible its actual behaviour under seismic action. This study
\nmust take into account the conventional limits imposed by the codes and those of the analytical instruments.
\nNowadays it is fundamental that any building manager or owner correctly knows these data to implement a strategy of
\nprevention that can cope with the seismic hazard of the territory and to optimize the economic resources in order to
\neliminate vulnerabilities through specific intervention programs.
\nThe purpose of this research is to identify a methodology of verification easily manageable and adaptable to many different
\nbuildings, but at the same time able to determine the actual state of structure in terms of critical steps and structural
\ndeficiencies. In order to develop this methodology, the building heritage of the University of Bologna was taken as a
\nreference. In particular the present building heritage has an overall floor area of approximately 470,000 m2 and consists in
\n59 buildings (composed by 104 Structural Units “US”), placed in the municipalities of Bologna and Ozzano Emilia.