Alice Di Primio^1, Marcello Vasta¹, Claudio Valente¹, and Daniele Spina²
1)  University “G. D’Annunzio”, Department of Engineering and Geology,
Pescara, Italy
e-mail: {alice.diprimio, marcello.vasta, claudio.valente}@unich.it
2)  Department of Civil Protection, Presidency of the Council of Ministers,
Via Vitorchiano 2, Rome, Italy
e-mail: daniele.spina@protezionecivile.it

Keywords: Vaulted systems monitoring, Damage assessment, Environmental noise, Output
only identification.

Abstract. Structural monitoring and vibration-based damage identification methods are fundamental tools for condition assessment and early-stage damage identification, especially when dealing with the conservation of historical constructions and the maintenance of strategic civil structures. However, although the substantial advances in the field, several issuesmust still be addressed to broaden the application range of such tools and to assert their reliability. This study deals with the output only experimental validation for non-destructive damage identification purposes of the vaulted system of the Bussi Castle known also as the Castello Mediceo (Italian for Mediceo Castle) that is a Middle Ages castle sited in Bussi sul Tirino, province of Pescara (Abruzzo, Italy). The vaulted system of the castle consists of different types of which particular attention is devoted to a barrel vault and a cloister vault. The experimental in situ activities consist of different monitoring stages of these vaults according to different structural states. The activities are strongly conditioned by the scheduled works at the construction site. A first monitoring stage of the vaults in their present state, where seismic damage is present due to recent Abruzzo earthquake events, has been performed under environmental noise. In a second stage, it is envisaged to repeat the monitoring after repair and strengthening of the vaults under consideration to analyze the effects of the new structural state.The results of the first stage monitoring, presently available, are helpful to confirm the capability of the monitoring techniques to assess the quality of the structural state integrity. The results of the second stage monitoring, available in the near future, will be used to show the effectiveness of the strengthening system adopted.