Piera Paola Capilleri

University of Pisa | UNIPI · Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering

The paper focuses on the global instability of levees by analyzing those factors that contribute to the earthwork stability. Moreover, the effectiveness of naturalistic methods is reviewed. Global instability is caused by gravity and seepage forces. Therefore, different collapse mechanisms such as piping, overtopping, hydraulic heave, etc. are not...

Estimation of the passive earth pressure is a crucial aspect in several geotechnical design problems. Several authors presented two-dimensional models for its evaluation while three-dimensional (3D) approaches have received less attention. It has been recognized that in many geotechnical systems, such as anchor blocks or plates or everywhere the wi...

An exponential increase in the activity of Mount Etna (Catania, Italy) has been observed between the massive eruptions that lasted from 1991 to 1993 and the very significant ones, which occurred between 2012 and 2018. Large amounts of ash repeatedly covered the city of Catania, causing environmental problems for road and air traffic, agriculture an...

Bioengineering approaches provide cost-effective ways to protect slopes against surface erosion and shallow mass movements. Indeed, vegetation is an excellent way to control slope erosion and instability of slopes. Plants play an active role both on the surface, protecting and holding soil particles, and at deeper layers, reducing pore pressure and...

The paper shows the back-analysis results of a shallow landslide occurred on 10 November 2014. A very intense rainfall (that occurred after a prolonged rainy period) caused a number of landslides in the area of Leivi (Liguria, Northern Italy). The considered slope consists of shallow debris overlying the bedrock (Argille a Palombini). The analyses...

The paper presents the results of the laboratory tests carried out to characterize two kinds of soils used for backfill of a reinforced earth wall that was built as a prototype in Brazil. To define the mechanical behavior of such backfill a series of static and dynamic laboratory tests were performed on dry reconstituted specimens. The static tests...

The behavior of mechanically stabilized earth walls (MSEW), with vertical precast concrete facing panels and polymeric strips, was analyzed under harmonic loading to investigate dynamic wall performance. To this end, finite element method (FEM) analyses were carried out. The numerical model was based on a full-scale test of a 6 m-high wall built in...

To investigate the geotechnical soil properties of Emilia Romagna Region, a large series of in situ tests, laboratory tests and geophysical tests have been performed, particularly at the damaged city of Scortichino—Bondeno. Deep site investigations have been undertaken for the site characterization of the soil also along the Burana-Scortichino leve...

It is well recognized that local seismic effects can exert a significant influence on the distribution of damages during earthquakes. Traditionally, these effects have been studied by means of simple one-dimensional (1-D) models of seismic wave propagation which take only the influence of the stratigraphic profile and soil/bedrock properties into a...

This study is part of a more extensive research aimed to the seismic risk mitigation in Eastern Sicily. The earthquakes that occurred in Sicily in 1169, 1542, 1693, 1818, 1908 and more recently in 1990, testify the high level of seismic hazard in this region. It is well recognized that local seismic effects can exert a significant influence on the...

Gli interventi di stabilizzazione dei pendii con tecniche “naturalistiche”, consentono di conciliare le attività antropiche di intervento sul territorio con quelle di tutela ambientale. Essi prevedono l’utilizzo, come materiale da costruzione, di piante vive, la cui capacità di rinforzo aumenta nel tempo in modo proporzionale allo sviluppo dell’app...

Viene svolta un’analisi numerica in campo dinamico di un’opera di sostegno realizzata con gabbioni in rete metallica. Il modello numerico utilizzato è stato implementato in un codice di calcolo agli elementi finiti allo scopo di analizzare il comportamento dell’opera soggetta a sollecitazioni di tipo sismico, utilizzando quattro terremoti italiani...

Men always have used plants to protect slopes from water and wind erosion. During last decades, this use has spread in civil and environmental engineering. Naturalistic approach for slope stabilization and erosion control has been studied and experimented, on the basis of concepts of soil bio-engineering. To better understand soil-root interaction...

The use of plants for protection of slopes or river embankments against water and wind erosion is spreading in civil and environmental engineering. Naturalistic approach for slope stabilization has been more and more studied and experimented, and a genuine discipline, that integrates traditional geotechnical engineering methods, has been created: B...

In the last 900 years, the east coast of Sicily has been struck by several disastrous earthquakes. The earthquakes occurred in 1169, 1542, 1693, 1818, 1908 and more recently in 1990, with estimated magnitudes, ranging from less than 5.0 to greater than 7.0, testify the high level of hazard in this area. Many towns were destroyed during the above-me...

The subgrade is the top surface of a roadbed upon which the pavement structure is constructed. The purpose is to provide a platform for construction of the pavement and to support the pavement without unwanted deflection that would reduce its performance. For those reasons subgrade bearing capacity have to be investigate during the construction pro...

Many recent researches show that the site seismic response is strongly influenced by stratigraphic and topographic features. Site response can reduce or amplify the earthquake induced ground motion. An integrated approach based on passive (HVSR) and active (MASW) seismic surveys, was carried out at the Garibaldi Hospital, located in Catania downtow...

Nowadays several reinforcal earth typologies are available. One of the most interesting is the vertical earth walls reinforced with polymeric geostrips with concrete facing panels. Geostrips tensile stiffness is much larger than that of typical geosynthetic sheets. Uncertainties may arise about the real geostrips behaviour: if they should be consid...

Viene presentato un approccio per la produzione di mappe di rischio sismico di aree urbanizzate. Il metodo prevede la raccolta di dati attraverso l‟utilizzo di una scheda appositamente realizzata che consente l‟acquisizione di informazioni utili per la stima della pericolosità geotecnica-sismica e della vulnerabilità di edifici ed infrastrutture. V...

Nella presente nota si riportano i risultati preliminari di una sperimentazione su modello fisico attualmente in corso presso il Laboratorio di Geotecnica dell'Università di Catania. Tale modello è stato progettato allo scopo di investigare il comportamento passivo del terreno soggetto a un carico applicato da una piastra di dimensioni finite in ca...

The city of Catania, located on the eastern zone of Sicily, is prone to high seismic risk. The Catania harbour is an important tourist, industrial and commercial harbour of Italy. For site characterisation of soil deep site investigations have been undertaken. Borings and Seismic Dilatometer Marchetti Tests (SDMT) have been performed, with the aim...

Following the 6 April 2009 earthquake which hit the Abruzzo region, numerous static and dynamic field soil characterizations have been performed, in order to analyze the seismic response of soils (Grasso et al. 2005, Lanzo et al., 2011, Maugeri et al., 2011) and recover or retrofit buildings and important historical monuments. Among the numerous on...

Nella presente nota si riporta uno studio sulla risposta sismica locale per le frazioni di San Carlo e Scortichino appartenenti al comune di Ferrara, colpiti dal terremoto dell'Emilia Romagna del 2012. Al fine di ricostruire il modello geotecnico del sottosuolo ed in particolare il profilo delle velocità delle onde di taglio, si è fatto riferimento...

Reinforced earth walls are cost effective soil-retaining structures, that can tolerate much larger settlements than reinforced concrete walls. By placing tensile reinforcing elements (inclusions) in the soil, the strength of the soil can be improved significantly, allowing to build safely, even in a severe seismic areas, high steep slopes and wall...

On May 20, 2012 an earthquake of magnitude ML=5.9 struck the Emilia Romagna Region of Italy and a little portion of Lombardia Region. Successive earthquakes occurred on May 29, 2012 with ML=5.8 and ML=5.3. The earthquakes caused 27 deaths, of which 13 on industrial buildings. The damage was considerable. 12,000 buildings were severely damaged; big...

In recent years, earth reinforced technology has been greatly developed. Based on accurate static and dynamic backfill soil characterisation a numerical modelling of the behaviour of a prototype is performed. This paper deals with a real scale experimental wall that has been built in Brazil by the Vertical Walls technology with Concrete Facing Pane...

In this paper a review of the principal results of a research conducted on the soil of the city of Catania, located in eastern Sicily (Italy), is presented. The results of in situ and laboratory investigations are described and compared in order to provide a representative geotechnical model of ground conditions of different zones in the city, for...

Nel presente lavoro sono riportati i risultati relativi alla caratterizzazione statica e dinamica in sito e laboratorio dell’area ricadente nel Comune di Santa Venerina (CT), zona ad elevato rischio sismico. Al fine di determinare l’andamento della velocità delle onde di taglio VS con la profondità sono state eseguite prove con l’apparecchiatura Do...

Nel presente lavoro sono riportati i risultati relativi alla caratterizzazione statica e dinamica in sito e laboratorio dell’area ricadente nel Comune di Santa Venerina (CT), zona ad elevato rischio sismico. Al fine di determinare l’andamento della velocità delle onde di taglio VS con la profondità sono state eseguite prove con l’apparecchiatura Do...

Sommario Nella presente nota, si riporta uno studio riguardante le riproduzioni in scala ridotta di sperimentazione su tavola vibrante. L'attività sperimentale ha riguardato l'ammodernamento dell'apparecchiatura già in dotazione al laboratorio di geotecnica dell'Università di Catania e successivamente un programma di prove, atte a valutare la coere...

In Italy, many urban areas suffer geotechnical hazard problems. However the Municipalities are not yet organised either to deal with the consequences of the possible phenomena, or to plan risk factor mitigation actions, by vulnerability reduction of the exposed elements. Before acting, a deep knowledge of the studied area and of the most important...

Nel presente lavoro sono riportati i risultati relativi alla caratterizzazione statica e dinamica di un sito ricadente nella zona industriale della Piana di Catania, zona ad elevato pericolo di amplificazione del moto al suolo e quindi ad alto rischio sismico. L’utilizzo di un’apparecchiatura di Colonna Risonante/Taglio Torsionale Ciclico, mediante...

Seismic and geotechnical hazard problems are widespread all over the world and they can cause natural disasters, damaging properties or causing human lives losses. Italian municipalities are not yet organised either to deal with the phenomena consequences, or to plan risk mitigation actions. A clear knowledge of the location and of the space and ti...

A tool that has been widely-used in civil engineering in recent years is the geographic information system (GIS) [1]. Geographic Information systems (GIS) are powerful tools for organizing, analyzing, and presenting spatial data. The GIS can be used by geotechnical engineers to aid preliminary assessment through to the final geotechnical design. Th...

Sommario Nella presente nota sono riportati i risultati di prove dinamiche di laboratorio (colonna risonante, taglio torsionale ciclico e taglio semplice) per la misurazione del modulo di taglio e dello smorzamento dei campioni di terreno prelevati nel centro abitato di Sellano (Pg), colpito dal terremoto Umbro Marchigiano del 1997. I risultati spe...

The paper describes the results of some experimental activities performed at the Earthquake Engineering Research Center of Bristol University and related to the seismic response analysis of earth-retaining walls. The activities consist of several shaking table tests performed on a earth-retaining wall system involving a scaled concrete wall model a...

The 1997-1998 Umbria-Marche seismic sequence induced severe damage to the historical centre of Sellano (Perugia, Italy). During the long aftershock sequence two temporary accelerometric stations, about 300 m apart, provided several ground motion records. These data allowed to investigate the amplification of surface motion which can be essentially...

The seismic events that hit the Umbria and Marche Regions in 1997-1998 represent recurrent crises in the seismic history of this area. These crises are mostly characterised by relatively moderate magnitudes; nevertheless in 1997-1998 they caused extensive damage in different towns, such as in the town of Sellano (Umbria Region). In this paper in or...

SOMMARIO: In questo lavoro sono presentati alcuni dei risultati ottenuti nell'ambito di uno studio dell'interazione dinamica muro-terreno attraverso sperimentazione su tavola vibrante. Il modello testato è stato progettato con lo scopo di ottenere un sistema muro-terreno caratterizzato da un meccanismo di collasso di tipo traslativo anche in corris...

The 1997-1998 Umbria-Marche earthquake sequence was characterised by a relatively moderate magnitude (ML = 5-6). Despite that, the earthquake caused extensive damage in different towns, such as in the town of Sellano. Different earthquakes have affected Sellano in the past. In particular, after the earthquakes of 1979 and 1984 most of the buildings...