SEismic REsilience of Museum contEnts

The project is for protecting valuable museum contents against seismic actions. Assessment and protection methods and equipment will be developed and tested. - Assessment methods for seismic safety of museum contents
- Protective devices for the musem contents
A museum virtual exhibition room (MVER) will be created, it will contain exhibits such as sculptures and artefacts of different size and geometry, while the proposed experimental work will first examine the seismic behaviour of the test specimens without any protection system. The tests will be repeated using different protective configurations, emphasising on low-mass base isolation systems. Two new and highly efficient base isolation systems will be extensively tested for the first time. The first isolator is a pendulum-based system, while the second utilises shape-memory-alloy wires.
The project will also develop and calibrate novel numerical models for single- and two- block rocking systems, while experimental and numerical results will be combined in order to develop quick overturning assessment criteria for the artefacts considered.
The final task of the project will combine the shaking table experimental outcomes with numerical results using calibrated numerical models in order to develop fragility curves for museum artefacts.