Seismic vulnerability of historical masonry buildings: A case study in Ferrara

In this paper, the seismic behaviour of an important Renaissance Palace in Ferrara (Italy), Palazzo Renata di Francia, is investigated. In the first part, a full 3D nonlinear analysis is performed in order to obtain a first insight into its structural performance. Then, three different 2D nonlinear analyses of the main front are critically compared and discussed. The first model relies on an equivalent frame approach, the second is based on an elastic–plastic damaging Finite Element (F.E.) approach and the third stems from a kinematic collapse analysis by means of a homogenised limit surface.The façade exhibits an adequate in-plane strength, when analysed with 2D plane stress F.Es., whereas the whole building undergoes out-of-plane partial collapses even in the presence of very low intensity horizontal actions, when analysed with 3D F.Es.