Experimental and numerical study of a fractured marble epistyle restored with layers of titanium bars

Abstract

The mechanical behaviour of fractured prismatic marble architraves (epistyles) is evaluated in the present study both experimentally and numerically. The study is based on a recently introduced method for the calculation of the reinforcement required for joining together fractured structural elements of ancient monuments. The experimental assessment includes the construction of an accurate model of the most seriously damaged architrave of the north colonnade of the Parthenon Temple in a scale 1:3. The epistyle is considered symmetrically fractured at its mid-plane and it is restored with three horizontal layers of titanium bars. A multi-point bending arrangement was designed including a system of double T-beams and steel rollers in order to approach in an optimum manner the action of the uniformly distributed load exerted on the epistyle in its original position. A numerical analysis followed in an effort to study the parameters influencing the behaviour of the epistyle. The numerical model simulated accurately all the geometrical details of the experimental model, the load application mode and the mechanical characteristics of the three materials used for the restoration (marble, titanium and interposed cementitious material). The analysis enlightened interesting points concerning the location of the regions of the structure more susceptible to failure.