TY - CHAP A1 - Miccoli, Lorenzo A1 - Fontana, Patrick A1 - Gardei, André A1 - Ziegert, C. A1 - Perrone, Ch. A1 - Kaiser, C. A1 - Gerrard, Ch. ED - Feiglstorfer, H. T1 - Analysis and diagnosis of earthen buildings: the case of Ambel preceptory in Aragon, Spain N2 - This study presents diagnostic techniques to assess the structural vulnerability of earthen buildings. Medieval structures at Ambel (near Zaragoza, Spain), once a preceptory or monastic house belonging to the Military Orders, provide a useful case study. After more than a thousand years of construction, failure and repair from the 10th century to the present day, Ambel preceptory today is characterised by marked inhomogeneities: construction materials and structural typologies are juxtaposed, with structural discontinuities at the interfaces between construction phases. This paper argues that, while static analysis is an essential prerequisite before a suitable maintenance program can be defined, no evaluation of the structural behaviour of any historic building can ignore an understanding of the building’s history. KW - historical earthen building KW - rammed earth KW - material characterisation KW - static monitoring PY - 2016 SN - 978-3-900265-34-2 VL - 1 SP - 201 EP - 229 PB - IVA-Verlag CY - Vienna, Austria AN - OPUS4-37076 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -