Project description DEENESFRITPL Developing a crack documentation tool for historical stone masonry buildings Europe is replete with diverse cultural buildings, ranging from large and impressive Roman amphitheatres to small and modest dwellings in European cities’ historic quarters. Despite differences in dimensions, architecture and use, all structures share a common construction technique: brick or stone masonry. The EU-funded CRACK-IT project aims to develop numerical crack simulation and identification techniques for stone masonry structures that can be used in professional practice. To achieve this, a crack detection tool will be developed, allowing for the crack documentation of damaged masonry structures. The project's work will also enable the assessment of the seismic safety of these buildings. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Europe’s built cultural heritage is very diverse, ranging from large and impressive Roman amphitheaters to small and modest dwellings of European cities’ historic quarters. Despite the immense differences in dimensions, architecture and use, these structures share the construction technique: brick or stone masonry. Built cultural heritage is a key factor for Europe’s social cohesion, economic growth and sustainable development. However, heritage structures in a large part of Europe are under the threat of earthquakes. While we can do nothing to prevent earthquakes, we can prepare predictive tools for assessing the seismic safety of masonry structures. This proposal aims to develop numerical CRACK simulation and Identification Techniques (CRACK-IT) for stone masonry structures that can be used in professional practice. To achieve this, we will first develop a crack detection tool that will allow the automatic and objective crack documentation of damaged masonry structures, by combining information from experiments with image processing and machine learning aproaches. This tool aims to be applicable in post-earthquake surveys for automated crack detection in masonry structures. Second, we will develop and validate a structural analysis tool that permits the efficient and accurate simulation of stone masonry structures and the robust estimation of their seismic response. For this, we will focus on the simulation of irregular stone masonry, because despite being a common used typology in historic structures, there is still no structural analysis approach tailored to it. The core for the development of these two numerical tools will be the execution of an experimental campaign including the shear-compression tests of irregular stone masonry walls. This campaign, apart from allowing the validation of the numerical tools, will give the first experimental dataset on the effect of the size of masonry walls to their in-plane structural response. Fields of science natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeologyseismologynatural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencemachine learning Keywords Masonry structures Cracks Shear-compression tests Experimental Tests Digital Image Correlation Homogenization approach Micro-modelling Constitutive modelling Stone masonry Cultural Heritage Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2019 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2019 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE Net EU contribution € 203 149,44 Address BATIMENT CE 3316 STATION 1 1015 Lausanne Switzerland See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Région lémanique Vaud Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 203 149,44