Setup Optimization of Experimental Measures on a Historical Building: The Octagonal Hall of the Diocletian’s Bath

The growing use of highly specialized tools has led to a better knowledge of the mechanical properties of the structures, reducing the destructive tests. The paper is aimed to identify an investigation method capable of directing staff in the planning of non-destructive test. The experimental campaigns must be planned in order to optimize the number and the type of tests to limit invasiveness and impact. The proposed method has been organized in a logical scheme that permits, in five steps, to predict with a good approximation the critical sections for an optimal setup of testing instruments. This method has been applied to the Octagonal Hall in Diocletian’s Bath, to establish a better location for the dynamic endoscopy and tomographic tests. A geometrical model was built using the plans, elevations, sections provided by the National Roman Museum and the point cloud made through a drone. With HBIM (Heritage Building Information Modeling) it was possible to synthesize the information obtained from the geometric and material survey and then to convey it to a finite element model built on Midas Fea NX. Then, structural analyses, both linear and nonlinear, have been carried out for the optimal test setup. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.