Pre- and post-diction simulation of the seismic response of a masonry cross vault tested on a shaking table

Masonry vaults are widely employed in ancient constructions and play a crucial role in their static and dynamic behaviour. In the last decades, the scientific community has carried out, on the one hand, several experimental campaigns aimed at characterising the response of masonry vaults to horizontal actions; on the other, it has developed sophisticated numerical models able to catch the crucial features of their structural response. Within the framework of the SERA.TA project (Seismology and Earthquake Engineering Research Infrastructure Alliance for Europe), pre and post-diction contests have been organised to assess the capability of numerical methods to predict the seismic response of a 1:1 scale model of a masonry cross vault, realised and tested at LNEC laboratory (Portugal). This paper outlines the numerical analyses performed on two vault models within the pre and post-diction phase of the project. The numerical models have been created and analysed with NOSA-ITACA, a finite element software implemented at ISTI-CNR and devoted to the structural analysis of ancient masonry constructions. Pros and cons of the numerical simulations have been analysed, comparing the prediction and post-diction results with the experimental data in terms of accelerations, displacements, and crack patterns. Numerical results fit the experimental outcomes, and betterment is evident in the post-diction phase