Integrated dynamic and thermography investigation of Mallorca cathedral

Abstract

An integrated investigation of engineering archaeometry was carried out using dynamic identification, dynamic monitoring and Infra-Red (IR) thermography for the study of the dynamic behavior of Mallorca cathedral in Spain. The cathedral is a large historical masonry structure built during 14-16th c. Dynamic identification and monitoring allowed the capturing of eight natural frequencies of the cathedral. IR thermography was used as a complementary inspection technique in the context of a continuous monitoring. Usually, IR thermography is used punctually for the inspection of a part of an inspected structure. Here an alternative was tried as the IR camera was installed for two two-weeks periods in the winter and in the summer of 2011 to monitor the stone surface temperature of a large portion of the cathedral. The correlation between the cathedral natural frequencies and the stone surface temperature of some selected structural elements was investigated and compared with the correlation with the external and the internal temperatures. It was found that the correlation with stone surface temperature was lower than that with external temperature. The study allowed a better understanding of the influence of temperature changes on the structure’s dynamic behavior.