PSI - Issue 64

Alba Hyseni et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 64 (2024) 246–253 Alba Hyseni / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000 – 000

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2. State-of-play 2.1 Description of the case-study

The considered tank-tower consists of a masonry structure located in Lecce (south of Italy) with reinforced concrete (RC) elements on the top roof. It was built in the early XX-century, and it is formed in a single prismatic body. The total height is ≃ 30 m with a square base having a side of 11 m. The masonry has a typical texture used in the local area, i.e. made of a calcareous square stone, namely “ pietra leccese ”, and thin lime -based mortar joints (<10 mm). By means of an in-situ visual inspection, the advanced corrosion of the steel tank was evident while the masonry exhibited not evident signs of the material decay, except for discoloration. Nonetheless, few cracks were detected above the windows. 2.2 Geometrical survey The geometrical survey of the tank-tower was assessed using a drone, associated with digital tools, in order to meet an accurate photogrammetric geometrical model in a time- and cost-saving manner. The drone was piloted to fly from the base to the top of a single façade taking enough photos for providing at least a 30% of overlapping. The flights were repeated per each façade. Moreover, both the top and the edge views were photographed. As a result, Fig. 2 shows the 2D geometric survey highlighting the different structural elements.

Fig. 2. geometric survey and identification of the structural members (dimensions in meters).

2.3 Materials testing In-situ (i.e. Hammer Smith, ultrasonic, endoscopic, etc.) and laboratory (pure compression) tests revealed the mechanical properties as reported in Table 1 according to cylinder samples (diameter equal to 40 mm; height on diameter ratio equal to 1) drilled out from the structure.