Seismic Behaviour of archaeological multidrum columns at the Pompeii site

Free-standing multidrum stone columns are widespread elements in archaeological areas. The present study aims at investigating the behavior of these elements under seismic excitations. The dynamic behavior of free-standing multidrum columns is greatly affected by geometrical properties, constitutive materials, state of preservation, and amplitude and frequency of the seismic action. The first step of the research involved a wide and detailed survey for the definition of the mean geometrical properties affecting the seismic behavior of these columns in the archeological Pompei site. To this end, a wide range of grey-tuff columns (103 elements) from four different areas of the site involving private and public areas, were investigated. Then, numerical analyses were carried out based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) to investigate the seismic behavior of such elements. A column from the tetrastyle atrium of Casa del Fauno was selected for the analysis. The house is one of the largest and most visited private buildings at the Pompeii archeological site. The selected column presented deep degradation and needed specific and urgent attention for its assessment. In the following, the detailed survey and the modeling phases of the investigated element are described and the outcomes of the numerical analysis are reported and discussed.