Application of finite element analysis on the preservation of historical buildings

Structural engineering is one of the most important disciplines related to the preservation of historical buildings. Numerical analysis has been essential to all engineering problems. This research applied finite element analysis to the preservation of a world famous historical construction, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. An accurate three-dimensional finite element model was created based on the technical drawings of the tower. Results of stress analysis matched the field data very well and thus validated the numerical model. Different failure modes were then checked with scrutiny. It was found that the tower is going to fail because of tension on the northern side masonry of the lower floors if the tilt continues. A sensitivity analysis based on the uncertainty of the material properties was performed to justify our results. It was also found that the radial tensile stresses at the roof of the staircase increase as the tilt decrease. Then a thorough analysis was conducted to understand the complex structural behavior of the building. It was shown that there exits a considerable twisting moment acting on the tower because of the existence of staircase and tilt.