Federico Bartolozzi

Opera Omnia
Earthquake Isolation & Soil Mechanics Systems 

Essen 2005, 368 Seiten, zahlr. Abbildungen, 38,00 EUR[D], ISBN 978-3-89924-143-3

This “Opera Omnia” contains the author’s studies concerning two specialistic fields in the engineering research: Earthquake Isolation and Soil Mechanics.Earthquake isolation is a particular and new aspect of the earthquake engineering, which has the purpose to study the technical-design principles for safeguarding and isolating the constructions from the earthquake hazard.
Using the earthquake isolation, the same aim achieved with the usual anti-seismic constructions is pursued, with the advantages - not at all negligible - of a very good economical competitiveness with respect to the conventional methods and of a considerable decrease in the pshycho-physical discomfort in the inhabitants of the constructions.
With respect to the second field of author’s research activity - that is Soil Mechanics - the search was mainly directed and qualified in the study of the old - and still present - phenomenon concerning the instability of the tower of Pisa.
The proposed contributions have the aim to confer stability to the precious monument through different operational techniques, which - even if very delicate from the operational point of view - could allow - when applied - the total removal or partial reduction of the present inclination, or - if wanted - an unnecessary, but possible, counter-inclination. The other topics - studied in this second field of research - are calculation methods concerning the symmetrical and lame plinth of foundation.
Even if the proposed studies have received consents from the international scientific world, nevertheless nothing can be definitively decreed about their operational effectiveness, because - with respect to the studies concerning the earthquake isolation particularly - the various proposed devices have not had the support of precise experimental tests as yet.