Vulnerabilità sismica e scelte di restauro: il caso del campanile di S. Giovanni a Villa di Sessa Aurunca (CE)

The present paper aims at the investigation of the seismic vulnerability of the bell tower of the church of San Giovanni a Villa in Sessa Aurunca with the scope to assess and predict the structural performance, to design valid strategy for the conservation and strengthening providing a contribution towards the value appreciation of the overall convent structure the church belongs to. The convent dates back to the Middle Ages and consists of an aggregate made by the church of San Giovanni e the old convent of San Francesco, which is composed by perpendicular branches lying on a Roman cryptoporticus. The bell tower is the only isolated element of the structure with a vertical development. Due to lack of maintenance works and little use, the structure is characterized by an advanced decay state, several structural issues and significant presence of humidity. Such a condition, common among structure of historical centers of South Italy, modelling and structural analysis represent a powerful tool for the prediction and assessment of structural vulnerabilities. An innovative approach based on limit analysis is presented in this work. The numerical formulation is applied to the case study of the bell tower, aiming at evaluating the capacity of the structure against seismic loads and to design strengthening solutions able to reduce their effects, introducing adequate strategy for a complete and conscious enhancement of the asset.