Finite element analyses of prehistoric walls under the loads of modern day shelters
Finite element analyses of prehistoric walls under the loads of modern day shelters
The paper presents the analyses performed using the finite element method in order to test the ability of the prehistoric walls of the Old Palace of Phaestos, Crete, to bear the loads calculated for a newly designed shelter of the Old Palace. The Old Palace of Phaestos constitutes a unique prehistoric monument with masonry with soil-based mortars. An exisitng shelter built in the '60s has steel columns transfering loads locally in the walls of the monument. As part of the design of a modern shelter to replace the existing one it was investigated to use the positions of the existing columns as the positions for the new columns to be built. The strength and deformability of the masonry walls was assessed and finite element models for 2- and 3-dimensional analyses were designed in order to carry out analyses to estimate the effect of the calculated loads for the new shelter. Both types of analyses indicated that only a fraction of the calculated loads for the new shelter could be born by the prehistoric walls at the positions of the existing columns. This result supported the decision to identify and propose new positions for the columns of the new shelter.
Dimitrios Tsoutsas; Basil Kasimis; Michael Bardanis; Marina Dede
4th International Symposium on the Preservation of Monuments and Historic Sites
Heritage Sites and Urban Development
https://doi.org/10.53243/tc301-2026-78