FULL-SCALE MODAL TESTING OF VAULTED GOTHIC CHURCHES: LESSONS LEARNED

A discussion with regards on the recent tests conducted on several Gothic churches which aims on improving the necessary knowledge needed on finite element (FE) models of the structure is presented. A focus will be given on the illustration of the typical modal testing results from complex vaulted Gothic churches, as well as to indicate the typical problems, while giving suggestions on the solutions during the test of a specific type of large civil engineering structure. It has been realized that when a careful consideration and adjustment has been done on the test setup and the data acquisition, satisfactory data can possibly be obtained. More importantly, the testing program appears to be useful on large-scale modal testing on vaulted masonry structures for analytical model calibration.