Home

Summary Description of the Project Objectives:

The WIND-CHIME project addresses the potential use of suitable modern seismic protective devices for the conservation of Mediterranean historical monuments in earthquake prone area. The strategic objectives addressed with are:

1. Structural analysis and consolidation methods for monuments: adaptive reuse of monuments and sites; integrated approach to conservation (activity code INCO-2002-B2.2);
2. Development, characterization and evaluation of new materials for the conservation and restoration of archaeological artefacts and monument assessing matters of compatibility (activity code INCO-2002-B2.1);
3. To lend support, in the scientific and technological field to the implementation of the Community’s foreign policy and development aid policy and to strengthen, develop and consolidate the Partner countries’ research systems as a mean of reinforcing synergies with these external policies.

The specific objective of this project is the development of a sustainable and cost-effective retrofit technology, which will allow non-intrusive rehabilitation of historical monuments in the Mediterranean area. Following the main results achieved, on a theoretical and experimental ground, within the project CHIME of the 5th European Union Framework programme, the two main goals of the present proposal are:

1. To enlarge the geographical area of intervention of the present cooperative effort;
2. To translate the design features arisen from the previous project into devices to be actually implemented in some specific cases. In particular, shape memory alloy (SMA) pre-stressed devices will be used to sew cracked brick and stone monuments and SMA dampers will be introduced in slender structures as minarets and bell-towers.

Three steps are envisaged:
a. A metallurgical and thermo mechanical characterization of different alloys (mainly the classical Ni-Ti alloy and a Cu-based alloy) in order to avoid a last moment inconsistency between material and application;
b. A smart implementation of the material properties into suitable devices;

Work Performed, Results Achieved:

• A state of the art update was conducted.
• A metallurgical and thermo mechanical characterization of different alloys (mainly the classical Ni-Ti alloy (Deliverable 1) and a Cu-based alloy (Deliverable 2)), in order to avoid a last moment inconsistency between material and application, was pursued.
• Case studies were identified in the historical areas of the Mediterranean partners. A database was organized: it is accessible from this webpage.

Expected Results:

• A smart implementation of the material properties into suitable devices represents the following step of the project.
• A full validation will be pursued through case studies located in the historical areas of the Mediterranean partners which were already identified.

Disseminating the Knowledge:

• A special session was organized at the 3rd European Conference of Structural Control held in Vienna, Austria, in July 2004.
• A special session was organized at the 4th World Conference of Structural Control to be held in San Diego, USA, in July 2006.
• A final dissemination conference was organized in Larissa, Greece, in April 2007.
• The main results are summarized in a special issue of the journal "Smart structures and systems".