PSI - Issue 78

Alberto Lemme et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 78 (2026) 293–300

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3.2. The cornices and stringcourses The cornices of palazzo Ardinghelli are made of stone support elements enriched with stuccoes of limestone matrix, made with a lime-based mortar. The decorations have a considerable overhang and consist of large volutes enriched with acanthus leaves that visually support the upper cornice, linked by garlands of acanthus leaves. The volutes are built on a brick core covered with a mortar that clings to a further layer of “arriccio”, and finally the last layer of mortar, thinner in thickness, was laid, with which the final modelling was realised. The purpose of the restoration work was to give the plaster layers structural continuity and sufficient adhesion values to guarantee mechanics, and consolidation with injection lime mortars was carried out.

Fig. 6. Cornices of Palazzo Ardinghelli.

3.3. Horizontal Structures The horizontal structures can be realised with different technologies such as iron and brick or wooden floors, brick vaults, stone vaults and be present in the same deck at the same time. In this context, the rigidity of the deck is important both in terms of the behaviour of the entire building and the deformability of the construction elements, in particular the vaults and wooden floors. In the structural context of the building, vaults are deformable or semi-deformable depending on the type of construction. Lightweight vaults of camorcanna or sheet brick are the most deformable, while thick stone vaults are less deformable, and the shape also contributes to deformability in both directions. The deformation of the vaults is influenced by the connection to the vertical structures and the ability to constrain the walls out of plane and redistribute the seismic forces between the walls stressed in plane. Vaults, like arches, transmit horizontal actions onto the vertical walls and it can therefore happen that these, in the absence of chains and other supports, stress the walls facilitating the activation of out-of-plane mechanisms. Vaults in camorcanna are characterised by a structure composed of wooden ribs and dividing elements in the two directions that support the opaque part of the vault made of a layer of light material, such as cannucciato, embedded in a plaster of lime or gypsum. In the case of two vaults in the former Liceo I via Maiella in L'Aquila, starting from the intrados, there is a first layer of lime or gypsum plaster approximately 2 cm thick on which stucco decorations are placed. Both the plaster and the stuccoes are to be restored and preserved. Above the layer of plaster there is the "incannucciato" made of half reeds with a diameter of approximately 2 cm arranged in an overlapping mesh with an overlapping weave consisting of a layer of 4-5 reeds in the direction of the parallels for a width of approximately 5 cm and a second layer of reeds in the orthogonal direction that, in alternating motion, at a distance of approximately 30 cm pass above and below the first layer of reeds. The thickness of the reeds is approximately 2 cm. Above the mesh of reeds is a layer of lime mortar in fair condition, which ends at each lath protruding upwards by a further approx. 2 cm. Work carried out: Reinforcement of the ribs by means of restoration treatments, insertion of planks of the same wood arranged on the sides and integration of the supports, treatment and eventual reinforcement of the radial laths, restoration of the plaster and stucco on the intrados, improvement of the connection between the canopy and the resistant system of the vault by inserting stainless steel clamps under the beams arranged according to the alternating meridians and parallels.