Page 179 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

3.1 Data acquisition and 3D digitisationDigital technologies have made it possible to produce amazingly accurate 3D digital models of cultural heritage. This is due to the development of new techniques and methodologies that have perfected the task of acquiring data and digitis- ing heritage.It is therefore not surprising that much of the specialised research conducted in recent years has focused on this area and has aroused interest not only because of the high-quality, accurate digital models produced but above all becauseit shows the many applications 3D modelling can have in safeguarding and making heritage known.Some of the proposals highlighted here con- centrate speci cally on digitising heritage as a means of measuring, selecting and analysing cultural elements with a view to carrying out art-historical studies to improve on the record- ing and diagnostic methods known so far in this eld. It can be concluded that extremely accurate digital data allows 3D models to be handled in di erent ways and makes it possible for experimental tasks to be conducted with di erent degrees of depth and detail, leading to greater re nement in our analyses of heritage assets.Finite element method in 3D modelsThe military fortress of Rocca Roveresca in the town of Senigallia (Ancona, Italy) was chosen as the object of study for the development of 3D models that could be used to conduct analyses by means of the nite element method (FEM), a numerical system for detecting aws caused by unknown structural tension.The research was carried out by an interdisciplin- ary team at the Scuola di Ateneo di Architettura e Design “Eduardo Vittoria”264 (SAD) in collabo-ration with the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo (MiBACT), who devised FEM models for obtaining e cient structural evidence to detect local abnormalities caused by internal discontinuities and cracks in the walls. The choice of Rocca Roveresca was justi edby the fact that its structural system is char- acterised by architectural layers with di erent materials and construction techniques (Meschini et al., 2015).265First of all data acquisition tasks were carried out using 3D laser scanning and endoscopic techniques that made it possible to delineate the traces of the layers and, accordingly, obtain di erent detailed 3D models to apply the nite element method. The point cloud obtainedfor each element was then used to apply the method whereby, by means of algorithms, a “mesh” was produced from clusters of points that enabled a comparative analysis to be carried out to locate structural tensions.The results revealed that certain elements such as cornices played a structural role in the ensem- ble, evidencing the usefulness of the approach and the potential of the various phases of the method in combination with data from 3D laser scanning.The ultimate aim was to propose and test a working scheme to de ne a method, that is, an operational process that could be used to study vulnerability to earthquakes – not only that of the Rocca Roveresca fortress in Senigallia, but other similar architectural contexts.3D laser scanning and structural diagnosisThe Faculty of Engineering and Architectureof the Università Kore di Enna (Sicily, Italy)also used 3D laser scanning as an experimental method for analysing structural deterioration and damage in the church of San Cataldo (Sicily) (Versaci et al., 2014).266 This monumental masonry building had been plagued by evidentAC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 2017179The use of digital technologies in the conservation, analysis and dissemination of cultural heritage