Structural and dynamic analysis of N. Sra.

do Carmo church, Lagos

Portugal
P. Mendes; M. A. Baptista; L. Agostinho
ISEL – Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
S. Lagomarsino
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale e Geotécnica, Università di Geneova, Génova, Itália
J. P. Costa
STAP-OZ, Faro, Portugal

ABSTRACT: In this paper we present the structural diagnosis and the dynamic analysis, evaluation of natural
frequencies and mode shapes, of N. Sra. do Carmo church, built in the 16th century, destroyed by the 1755
Lisbon earthquake and partially rebuilt afterwards. The church is part of the cultural heritage of the city of
Lagos. Experimental data is obtained through ambient vibration testing (AVT) and a Finite Element Model
(FEM) of the structure is presented. The main purpose of this study is the evaluation of the structural behavior
due to the presence of a longitudinal crack along the vault that covers the central nave. This work was develo-
ped in the framework of project CARAVELA - Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa.

1 INTRODUCTION simple static analysis of the structure is also

This paper focuses on the structural diagnosis and
dynamic analyses of the N. Sra. do Carmo church.
The church was built in the 16th century and was
partially destroyed by the catastrophic earthquake
of 1755.11.01; it was partially rebuilt in the 18th
century. Recently it was severely damaged by the
1969.02.28 earthquake, and then closed to the
public. Since then, no significant retrofit was
performed.
performed.
A Finite Element Model (FEM) of the structure
was developed in order to characterize and analyse
the dynamic behaviour of the church. To calibrate
this model, a preliminary ambient vibration test was
performed to identify the fundamental frequency of
the church’s structure.
2 THE CHURCH STRUCTURE

The Nª Srª do Carmo church is a stone masonry

structure which has a rectangular plan and
dimensions that are approximately 30 m by 7 m; its
height varies from 9 m to 11 m. The highest point
of the structure is the bell tower with a 2 m square
base and a 12.15 m height.
Figure 1. View of Nª Sª do Carmo church.

In 2003, the municipality of Lagos approved a

major rehabilitation project for the monument. The
project will take 18 months, divided into 3 stages:
repair and rehabilitation of structural elements;
restoration of the interior architectonic elements
and restoration of artistic details.
The church’s structural diagnosis was performed
by STAP-OZ and consists of the characterization of
its pathologies and the determination of some Figure 2. Frontal view.
mechanical properties of materials, based on “in
situ” tests which are described in section 3. A
 materials used in each section corresponding to the
different colours of the vault shown.
We can see along the barrel vault a large fissure
7,15
(figure 4b). This crack compromises the safety of
the structure
The church has a spherical dome located over the
7,20 4,20 17,00 7,00
high-chapel (Figure 5).
Figure 3. Plant of the church.

The structure has a central nave covered with a

barrel vault (Figure 4), a structural form quite
common in religious European heritage, supported
by external walls that discharge directly onto the
soil.

Figure 5. View of the Dome.

The sacristy has a wooden roof support structure

(see figure 6a), as well as a wooden pavement in an
advanced deterioration process that needs to be
supported as we can see in figure (6b).

(a)
(a) (b)
Figure 6. (a) Sacristy covering structure; (b) Sacristy
pavement support.

In some parts of the church there are walls that are

composed of wood see figure 7

(b)
Figure 4. Interior of the church – view of the vault.

The barrel vault is made of brick masonry with

two distinct sections. The first section is the
continuation of the central nave’s walls and belongs
to the original structure. The other section is the
closure of the vault. This second section is the
consequence of the retrofit performed after the 1755 Figure 7. Typical walls in tower bell access.
earthquake which destroyed the adjacent convent
and partially ruined the Church. In figure (4a) we
can clearly identify the difference between the two
 The interior of the church preserves some
remarkable architectonic details: the arch of the
High Chapel, the glazed tile panels, the throne, the
tabernacle and, beneath the floor of the central
nave, a considerable number of grave stones were
found.

(a) (b)
Figure 9. Cracks between the vault and its supporting walls.
(a) (b)
Figure 8. (a) guilded wood work ; (b) glazed panels.

In order to rehabilitate the church, a detailed

characterization of its structural anomalies and
pathologies were performed by STAP-OZ, the
diagnostic/rehabilitation company.
In the following subsections we present the most
significant aspects of this characterization work,
based on a photographic description.

2.1 Structural anomalies

After a detailed visual examination of the church’s (a) (b)
walls, vault and roofing; and analysing the
Figure 10. Sub-vertical cracking in the exterior of the
information obtained, the presence of several principal nave.
anomalies were detected, some related with faulty
structural behaviour and others related to the
absence of maintenance and conservation. The
principal structural anomalies detected were:

ƒ Longitudinal cracking of the vaults closure

with an existing opening as well as a
simultaneous deformation of the central
zone of the vault (see figure 4b);
ƒ Cracks resulting from the disconnection of
the vault and its supporting walls (see
figure 9);
ƒ Sub vertical cracking in the principal nave; Figure 11. Vertical crack in sacristy.
ƒ West wall is thrown out of alignment,
detected by the presence of cracks that show The principal structural anomalies of the central
a base rotation occurrence; nave of the church are cracks and deformations
ƒ Cracks on sacristy; which concentrate above all on the vault, in the top
ƒ Crack on tower bell vault; walls and in the west wall, while in the sacristy the
ƒ Deterioration of the high choir wood cracks has special incidence in the superior floor
structure; and in the north facade. The cracking on the vault
ƒ Deterioration of floor wood beams in the appears associated to the deformation of the west
sacristy. wall. The most probable anomalies will be,
seemingly, related with seismic events.
2.2 Material’s mechanical properties
The main objective of this paper is to characterize
the dynamic behaviour of this structure, being
necessary for that to determine the material’s
mechanical properties.
Several tests using flat jacks were performed in
different sections of the walls by STAP-OZ® in
order to determine the modulus of elasticity, we can
see in figure 13 the one of these tests.
Figure 12. Use of flat jacks to determine the modulus of
elasticity.
The results obtained with these tests for the
modulus of elasticity varied from 0,5 GPa to
1,0 GPa.
In order to evaluate the integrity of structural
wood elements, “Resistograph” tests were
performed, as we can see in figure 14.
Figure 13. “Resistograph” test for integrity of wood structural
element evaluation.
The results obtained with these tests will be
compared with the results obtained from the
numerical model and ambient vibration test.
3 AMBIENT VIBRATION TEST
Monumental buildings, like all civil engineering
structures, are constantly submitted to dynamic
environmental actions (wind, traffic, micro-tremors
of the ground). Modal parameters such as
frequencies, mode shapes and damping ratio can be
measured using experimental techniques, like
ambient vibration tests. These tests have several
advantages: they are non destructive; they do not require
expensive devices for artificial excitation ;
Dynamic analysis based on ambient vibration
tests is a methodology used to characterize the
dynamic behaviour of a structure excited by low
amplitude vibrations. The information obtained can
be useful to calibrate and update finite element
models of the structure.
Modal identification is the determination of
modal parameters of existing built structures from
experimental data. Output-only modal identification
of structures is normally used to identify modal
parameters from the natural responses of many
structures. In these cases the loads are unknown,
and the identification process is carried out, based
on the responses only. Many applications on
modern civil engineering structures can be found in
literature Ventura (1996) and Brincker (2002). In
Portugal, several experiments were carried out (e.g.
Ferreira (2001) and Baptista (2004)). An example
of ambient vibration testing on historical structures
can be found in Shelley (2000).
The response of the structure must be recorded at
specific locations in order to maximize the
information content with respect to the modal
parameter identification. At this stage, the
conditions inside the church do not permit a multi-
sensor location so the ambient vibration test
performed was rather simple. A preliminary test
was performed in order to obtain the fundamental
frequency for FEM updating.
The procedures for ambient vibration tests are
described below.
 Analysis of Figure 15 enables the clear
identification of 3.3 Hz being the fundamental
frequency.

4 THE FINITE ELEMENT MODEL

A three-dimensional model of the church was

implemented using SAP2000® Computers &
Structures (1998) and the fundamental frequencies
Figure 14. Location of sensor in this test.
and the corresponding mode shapes of the structure,
based on its physical and mechanical properties,
The sensor used in this preliminary experiment is
were determined.
a Kinemetrics® force balance accelerometers
In order to obtain a finite element model of the
(FBA ES-T); the sensor is connected to a 12-
structure it is necessary to use idealisations of
channel data acquisition system (DAS) with a
material behaviour and geometry. Geometry of
dynamic range of 114 dB and an output data format
ancient historical structures may be rather complex
of 24 bits.
as often there is no clear distinction between
This test is based on acceleration data recorded
decorative and structural elements Lourenço
during a 30 minute interval and a sampling
(2001).
frequency of 250 Hz was used.
In the preliminary phase, it is assumed that all the
Data processing was performed using Artemis
materials of the structure have the following
Extractor® version 3.4, SVBs (2004). The power
characteristics: i) they are homogeneous and
spectral densities matrices are obtained using the
isotropic; ii) the modulus of Elasticity, E = 0.7 GPa
Frequency Domain Decomposition. This technique
(based on a preliminary ambient vibration test); iii)
decomposes approximately the spectral density
the Poisson’s ratio is 0.2; iv) a linear elastic
matrix of the system response into a set of SDOF
behaviour is assumed. The geometry of the
systems using Singular Value Decomposition; the
structure is idealised considering the structure to be
singular values are estimates of the spectral density
made of shell elements.
of the SDOF systems, and the singular vectors are
estimates of the mode shapes based on Ventura
(2001).

Figure 16. Numerical model.

V Figure 18 shows the 1st mode shape obtained by

Figure 15. Power spectral densities on: (T) transversal
direction; (L) longitudinal direction; (V) vertical direction.
the finite element modelling; it corresponds to a
translation movement in the transversal direction
with an approximate frequency of 3.3 Hz. The
modulus of elasticity has been tuned in order to
identify the model from the experimental result.
 As we can see with a modulus of elasticity of
E = 0,85 GPa, which was used to calibrate this
model, we are within the range obtained by the flat
jacks trials (0,5 GPa to 1,0 GPa).
(a)
(b)
Figure 17. 1st mode shape, with a frequency of 3.3 Hz; (a) 3D
view; (b) plan view.
5 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
The modulus of elasticity of the structure was
determined using two different methods: ambient
vibration tests and FEM updating and flat jack tests.
The experimental determination of higher
frequencies and mode shapes requires the
installation of 3 different sensors on the base of the
vault. These experiments require the installation of
an auxiliary steel structure. Due to budget
difficulties this installation has been delayed T
From the structural point of view, the main
concern of the rehabilitation process is the presence
of longitudinal cracking along the vault. In order to
study this effect, one possibility is the simulation of
the crack by considering a reduction of the modulus
of Elasticity in the vertical direction.
Procedures to evaluate dynamic behaviour of
historical structures under seismic load are not yet
quite well established so any quantitative
information on their dynamic properties is
important to understand and to infer their seismic
performance.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank Instituto Politécnico de
Lisboa for financial support of project Caravela
(50/2003) and Architect Frederico Paula from
Lagos municipallity.
REFERENCES
Baptista, M.A., Mendes, P., Campos Costa, A., Sousa Olivei-
ra, C., Afilhado, A., Silva, P. 2004. Use of Ambient
Vibration Test for Modal Evaluation of a 16 Floor
Reinforced Concrete Building In Lisbon, Portugal. Proc.
of 13th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering,
Paper 1985, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, August 1-6.
Brincker, R., Ventura, C.E., Andersen, P. 2002. Why Output-
Only Modal Testing is a Desirable Tool for a Wide Range
of Practical Applications. online.
Computers & Structures Inc. 1998. SAP 2000 Integrated
Finite Element Analysis and Design of Structures,
Berkeley, California, USA.
Fajfar, P. 2000. A Nonlinear Analysis Method for Performan-
ce-Based Seismic Design. Earthquake Spectra, 16 (3), pp.
573-592.
Ferreira, P, Proença, JMFM 2001. Identificação Modal do
Corpo 4 do Hospital de Santa Maria, em Lisboa. Inferên-
cia da Vulnerabilidade Sísmica., SÍSMICA 2001 - 5º
Encontro Nacional de Sismologia e Engenharia Sísmica,
Açores, 2001, pp. 381-393.
Lagomarsino, S., Calderini, C. 2004. A Micromechanical
Damage Model for Complex Masonry Structures. Proc.
13th International Brick and Block Masonry Conference,
Amsterdam, July 4-7, pp. 1195-1204.
Lagomarsino, S., Podestà, S. 2004(a). Seismic vulnerability of
ancient churches: I. Damage assessment and emergency
planning. Earthquake Spectra, 20 (2), pp. 377-394.
Lagomarsino, S., Podestà, S. 2004(b). Seismic vulnerability of
ancient churches: II. Statistical analysis of surveyed data
and methods for risk analysis. Earthquake Spectra, 20 (2),
pp. 395-412.
Lagomarsino, S., Podestà, S., Resemini S. 2004. Observatio-
nal and mechanical models for the vulnerability assess-
ment of monumental buildings. Proc. of the 13th World
Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Paper 942, Van-
couver, B.C., Canada, August 1-6.
Lourenço, P.B. 2001. Analysis of historical constructions:
From thrust-lines to advanced simulations. Historical
Constructions, possibilities of numerical and experimental
techniques, Guimarães, pp 91-116.
Shelley, E.O., Ordaz, M., Singh, S.K, Lemo, J. 2000.
Estimation of Seismic Hazard to Rehabilitate the Temple
of La Compañia in Puebla, Mexico. Proc. Int. Millennium
Congress – Archi 2000, Unesco.
SVBs, 2002. Structural Vibration Solutions ApS: ARTeMIS
Extractor, Release 3.2, User’s Manual. Denmark.
Ventura, C.E., Schuster, N.D. 1996. Structural dynamic
properties of a reinforced concrete high-rise building
during construction. Canadian Journal of Civil
Engineering, 950-972.
Ventura, C.E., Brincker, R., Dascotte, E., Andersen, P. 2001.
FEM Updating of the Heritage Court Building Structure.
Proc. 19th Int. Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC),
Florida, USA, pp. 324-330.