GNGTS 2023 - Atti del 41° Convegno Nazionale

Session 2.2 GNGTS 2023 Timisoara historical districts The study on Timisoara is based on a multidisciplinary approach, as the heritage structures cannot be analysed by only structural features and state of conservation, but also by more complex characteristics which are related with the architectural and urban context, as well as with the historic and cultural value. The subject of seismic vulnerability assessment of historic urban areas is very common nowadays, as many multidisciplinary teams in the world are involved in research in the field. Despite this high interest, most of the research works focus on the structural features, while the cultural components are insufficiently investigated. Timisoara is the most important city from the western part of Romania, located in Banat seismic region. The history of the city is very complex, with several external administrations, such as the Ottoman and the Habsburg. Since 1177, when the city was first recognized, the urban pattern changed several times, leaving behind valuable urban districts in Secession, Art Nouveau, Baroque and Eclectic architectural style. The buildings are distributed into aggregate condition, forming closed contours around the street path, with interior courtyards. The historical buildings are made in brick masonry, of burnt clay brick and lime. The exterior walls in both longitudinal and transversal directions are massive, with thicknesses up to 80 centimeters. There is usually another thick wall in the longitudinal direction, parallel with the main façade. The transversal walls are thin, contributing only to the rigidity of the building, and are not connected with the façade walls in the majority of the cases (Mosoarca et. Al., 2019). The seismicity of Banat area is characterised by shallow earthquakes of crustal type. The focal depths are small and the magnitudes in the area were maximum (registered) Mw=5.6. According to several seismic scenarios obtained for Timisoara city, the most probable macroseismic intensity would be IX EMS-98. The investigation starts from a methodology developed by Onescu and Mosoarca and a previous investigation of the historical buildings in the main districts of Timisoara. The analysis that was made in the past was hybrid, combining the advantages of mechanical and empirical techniques (Mosoarca et. Al., 2020). Starting from this investigation, the analysed area is extended to consider an entire aggregate. Based on the original seismic vulnerability assessment that also considers the cultural value , by adding to the original investigation form parameters regarding the value of the architectural-artistic, urbanistic, and existing socio-economic elements (Onescu, 2020), it is possible to determine the most probable damage states for each of the buildings in the aggregate, as well as for the aggregate itself. The most probable damage state is determined considering possible seismic scenarios for the city, previously determined, which indicated the most probable IX-EMS98 macroseismic intensity for the area. The main historical districts of Timisoara city are presented in Figure 2a, while the damage assessment performed on Iosefin historic area is shown in Figure 2b.