Structural Sustainability and Resilience of Built Heritage Lab

Research keywords: · sustainability · resilience · historical construction · mechanics of materials · innovative materials and technologies · masonry structures · arches, domes, vaults · reinforced concrete shells · earthquake and wind load · structural analysis · rocking structures

Horizon Europe keywords: · Circular economy · Cities and communities · Disaster-resilient physical and digital infrastructures · Protection and promotion of cultural heritage

Faculty of Architecture Department of Mechanics, Materials and Structures

Dr. István Sajtos

Associate Professor

PhD

H-1111 Budapest, Műegyetem rkp. 3., K.2.61.

+3614631775

sajtos.istvan@epk.bme.hu

Dr. Orsolya Gáspár

Assistant Professor

Dr. Tamás Ther

Assistant Professor

Introduction of the Research Group

The Structural Sustainability and Resilience of Built Heritage Lab (STURE) conducts research and employs its knowledge on-site on the frontiers of structural engineering and heritage conservation. Founded at the Faculty of Architecture of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, the lab benefits from the diverse expertise of its members and collaborators. We aim to exploit the full potential of this multi-disciplinary approach in an emerging field of research. We share the commitment to a sustainable future of the built environment and we believe that the preservation of our built heritage (both historical and recent) can and should be a major contributing field. Our research focuses on the possibilities (considering both architectural, i.e. formal and functional, and engineering, i.e. structural aspects) to extend the lifespan of existing structures, improve their resilience against disasters with minimal intervention, and integrate reused materials in the circular building process. We work towards a better understanding of the behavior of historical constructions and investigate the phenomena of material degradation due to temporal and environmental causes, focusing on masonry and reinforced concrete. Our theoretical studies are supplemented with customized numerical simulations and laboratory testing - both on the material and the structural level.

Watch our 3-minute introductory video:

Achievements Publications Awards Journals Infrastructure Projects Conferences Other

Achievements

- Development of the analytical models of masonry arches considering the interaction of shape of masonry elements and friction
- Analytical and numerical examination of masonry domes with the possibility of crack propagation
- Examination of crack development of reinforced concrete beams considering non-linear material behaviour
- Structural and technological evolution of the early Zeiss-Dywidag reinforced concrete domes
- Approximation possibilities of many elements masonry column by one element column in case of earthquake excitation
- Dynamic analogy between many elements masonry arch and one degree of freedom rocking column

Publications

Gaspar, Orsolya; Sajtos, Istvan; Sipos, Andras A.: Friction as a geometric constraint on stereotomy in the minimum thickness analysis of circular and elliptical masonry arches
International Journal of Solids And Structures, 225 Paper: 111056 , 18 p. (2021)

Ther T, Kollár LP. Dynamical similarity of multi-block catenary arches and rocking blocks subjected to horizontal base excitation, Nonlinear Dynamics, 2021; DOI: 10.1007/s11071-021-06415-1

Gáspár, Orsolya; Sipos, András A.; Sajtos, István: Effect of stereotomy on the lower bound value of minimum thickness of semi-circular masonry arches
International Journal of Architectural Heritage 12 : 6 pp. 899-921. , 23 p. (2018)

Ther T, Kollár LP. Refinement of Housner’s model on rocking blocks. Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 2016; DOI: 10.1007/s10518-016-0048-8.

Hegyi, D; Sajtos, I; Geiszter, Gy; Hincz, K: Eight-node quadrilateral double-curved surface element for membrane analysis
Computers and Structures 84 : 31-32 pp. 2151-2158., 8 p (2006)

Awards

Development of masonry unit geometry, Pro Progressio Foundation - Innovation Award 2021

Journals

International Journal of Architectural Heritage
International Journal of Solids and Structures
Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics
Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering
Nonlinear Dynamics

Infrastructure

structural testing laboratory ATENA, finite-element softver

Projects

- K-17-124859: Mechanics of masonry-, no-tension structures, 2017-2021, National Research, Development and Innovation Office, principal investigator, member
- Seismic retrofit of monuments and structures 2018-2021 - member, BME FIKP-VIZ (VIZ_11) Ministry for Innovation and Technology, members
- Seismic retrofit of monuments and structures 2021-2023 – member, National Research, Development, and Innovation Fund of Hungary under Grant TKP2021-NVA-02, members
- REcube: REthink, REvive, REuse - Transmitting the knowledge for the green regeneration of the European Concrete Heritage, Erasmus+ programme, coordinator: Politecnico di Milano, 2021-2024, members

Conferences

- IASS Annual Symposium 2019 – Structural Membranes 2019, Form and Force,Barcelona, 7 – 10 October 2019, Gáspár Orsolya, Sajtos István, előadók
- International fib Symposium on Conceptual Design of Structures, Madrid, September 26-28, 2019, Sajtos István, előadó
- 12th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTIONS, SAHC 2021, Online event, Barcelona, 29 Sep - 1 Oct, 2021, Gáspár Orsolya, Sajtos István, előadók
- 16th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering (16ECEE); 2018.; Görögország, Tesszaloniki; Ther Tamás, előadó
- 16th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering; 2017.01.09-2017.01.13.; Chile, Santiago de Chile; Ther Tamás, előadó

Other activities

member of ICOMOS