Historical and Masonry Structures
The group consists of 25 PhD members, led by Graça Vasconcelos and integrated in two clusters. Originally centred in “Historical”, i.e. existing buildings with cultural value, often referred to as architectural heritage (majority in masonry and timber, but also 20th century heritage), and “Masonry”, i.e. new masonry construction.
Overview
Group HMS - Historical Masonry
The group interests are wider, with relevant activity in timber structures, infrastructure management and geotechnical engineering. Conservation of the built heritage includes non-destructive testing and monitoring, advanced experimental characterization, sophisticated numerical simulation tools, earthquake engineering, repair and strengthening techniques, durability, management systems and life cycle analysis.
Re-use of structural masonry and timber aims at developing integral building solutions (all functional requirements) and modular solutions. Infrastructure management has a strong focus on assessment of bridges and transportation networks, including risk management and extreme events. Geotechnics has a focus on ground parameters and performance predictions, namely for rock masses, slope management and railways engineering.
Clusters
Projects
Latest News
We are pleased to share the 𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗘 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 2025, reflecting a year of strong research, collaboration, and innovation in structural engineering.
From the 𝗘𝗫𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗧 ⭐ evaluation by FCT to impactful projects addressing sustainability, resilience, and advanced materials, this report showcases the commitment of our teams to advancing the built environment.
🔗 Explore the full highlights:
buff.ly/iAMJY1V
#ISISE #STATS&Highlights #UC #UM #SMCT #HMS #FP #SC
🌟 NEW PAPER 🌟
Excited to share our latest publication on the multi-hazard vulnerability of heritage masonry arch bridges (MABs).
These structures make up a significant portion of European railway networks and are increasingly exposed to combined risks such as seismic and flooding events.
In this work, we propose a risk-based framework that:
🔹 Introduces a novel performance indicator to compare infrastructure under multi-hazard conditions
🔹 Uses stochastic surrogate models to derive fragility surfaces without assuming log-normality
🔹 Integrates both failure probability and economic consequences for more realistic prioritization
Key takeaways: Asset ranking can change significantly when consequences are considered alongside vulnerability. What may appear more fragile is not always the most critical when network impacts are accounted for. This approach also drastically reduces computational demand while maintaining accuracy, an important step toward scalable, system-level risk assessments.
Doi: buff.ly/ztyqf07
#ISISE #hms #RAMCI #matich
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New paper from ISISE! 😊📃
Title: Recommendations for assessment and interpretation of the seismic capacity of URM walls with irregular opening layout from benchmarking different finite element models
Authors: F. Parisse, V. Buonocunto, A. Di Primio, A.M. D'Altri, L.C.M. da Silva, R. Marques, G. Camata, P.B. Lourenço, G. Milani, S. de Miranda, F. Parisi, G. Magenes, S. Cattari
Journal: JOBE
Download some free copies until May 18 from the link 👉
buff.ly/qMIZMBN
#ISISE #HMS #MATICH #URMstructures #FiniteElementmodels #resultinterpretation #sanitychecks #practicalguidelines
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🌟 NEW PAPER 🌟
📝 Safeguarding Heritage Under Conflict: Numerical Investigation of the Blast Response of the Aleppo Citadel Minaret
📓 heritage
👩🏫 Donna Al Sououb, Matteo Salvalaggio, João M. Pereira, Michel Chalhoub and Paulo B. Lourenço
🔗 buff.ly/ES679Yz
#ISISE #hms #matich
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🌟 NEW PAPER 🌟
📝 Moisture absorption of CLT elements during construction: insights from an on-site monitoring case study
📓 International Wood Products Journal
👩🏫 Daniel F Lima, Sónia Duarte, Jorge M Branco, and Lina Nunes
🔗 buff.ly/t7PGOFF
#ISISE #hms #matich
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