Can we use the q-Gaussian of ambient noise fluctuations as a vulnerability index? A case study in Cultural Heritage buildings

Filippos Vallianatos, Ioannis Koutalonis, Margarita Moisidi and Georgios Chatzopoulos

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2018, vol. 497, issue C, 9-14

Abstract: In this work we study in terms of Tsallis statistical mechanics the properties of microtremors’ fluctuations in two church bell towers, which are monuments of cultural heritage, in the city of Chania (Crete, Greece). We have shown that fluctuations of ambient vibrations recordings in the Church tower bells follow a q-Gaussian distribution. The behavior of Tsallis q parameter with the level (high) of the measuring point within the tower and the amplification factors at that points as extracted from horizontal-to-vertical (HVSR) spectral ratios are presented and discussed. Since q decreases as the amplification factor increases, we could suggest q as a vulnerability index, where, as q decreases approaching unity, then the structural system is getting more vulnerable. The latter approach suggests that introducing ideas of Tsallis statistics could be useful in characterizing extremely complex processes as that governed the estimation of seismic vulnerability in which a multidisciplinary approach is required.

Keywords: q-Gaussian; Ambient vibrations; HVSR spectral ratios; Vulnerability; Cultural Heritage buildings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:497:y:2018:i:c:p:9-14

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2017.12.135

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