Assessment of the Structural Damage on the Former San Agustin Temple Using Numerical Modelling

Abstract

This paper presents the assessment of the structural damage of the former temple of San Agustin, located on the Historic Centre of Zacatecas, one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Mexico. The original masonry construction which dates from 1575 was restored and re-consecrated in 1782 has suffered several damages after the second half of the XIX century. In 1948 work to recover and restore the existing damage was performed and it was concluded by 1969. However, in recent years, new signs of damage have appeared on different sections of the historical construction; for example, the north wall presents about 2 percent of inclination with respect to the vertical and one of the central arcs is completely deformed showing an ellipse-like shape. The numerical modelling performed on this study is achieved by means of a 3D finite element analysis of the present spatial configuration of the front part of the building since this is the most damaged part of the construction. Natural periods of the principal mass participating modes obtained on the numerical model are in well agreement with the periods measured by environment noise tests. The FEM model represents adequately the damage present on the vault of the main nave. Finally, recommendations about the improvements that can be applied on the actual FEM model are given based on the results obtained in order to give a better assessment of the vulnerability of the building and to formulate recommendations for its conservation.