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NOSA-ITACA is a free software package for the nonlinear structural analysis of historical masonry constructions. It is developed and maintained by the Mechanics of Materials and Structures Laboratory (MMS Lab) of the Institute of Information Science and Technologies “A. Faedo” of the National Research Council of Italy (ISTI-CNR).[1]

History

The original NOSA (NOnlinear Structural Analysis) finite element code was created at the National Research Council of Italy in the 1980s for solving problems in solid mechanics and structural engineering. Over the following decades, the code was extended to model masonry structures and integrated with the open-source SALOME platform for pre- and post-processing. This development led to the creation of NOSA-ITACA, which is currently distributed free of charge by ISTI-CNR for GNU/Linux systems.[1]

Features

NOSA-ITACA.[2] is based on a constitutive equation in which masonry is modeled as a nonlinear elastic material with negligible tensile strength and either finite or infinite compressive strength.[3]

The software supports:

  • linear and nonlinear static analyses[4], including collapse analysis;
  • thermomechanical analyses under thermal loads[5]
  • modal analysis[6]
  • modelling of structural strengthening and reinforcement interventions.[2]

The finite element library includes beam, plane stress, plane strain, axisymmetric, brick and shell elements. The computational core is written in Fortran, while graphical interface and modelling environment are provided through integration with the SALOME platform.

Peer-reviewed studies support the recognition of NOSA-ITACA as a finite element tool capable of modeling the static and dynamic behavior of masonry structures, such as towers, beams, and domes.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][excessive citations] Comparisons with other finite element programs, including DIANA, MSC Marc, Ansys, Abaqus, 3MURI and Sap2000,  are provided in peer-reviewed papers[6][15][16][17]

Applications

NOSA-ITACA has been applied in research and conservation projects involving historic towers, churches and monuments in Italy and abroad. Examples include:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b “The NOSA-ITACA code for the structural analysis of masonry constructions of historical interest | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche”. www.cnr.it. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
  2. ^ a b c Girardi, Maria; Padovani, Cristina; Pellegrini, Daniele; Porcelli, Margherita; Robol, Leonardo (2023). “Numerical Modelling of Historical Masonry Structures with the Finite Element Code NOSA-ITACA”. In Bretti, Gabriella; Cavaterra, Cecilia; Solci, Margherita; Spagnuolo, Michela (eds.). Mathematical Modeling in Cultural Heritage. Springer INdAM Series. Vol. 55. Singapore: Springer Nature. pp. 133–152. doi:10.1007/978-981-99-3679-3_9. ISBN 978-981-99-3679-3.
  3. ^ Lucchesi, Massimiliano; Zani, Nicola; Padovani, Cristina; Pasquinelli, Giuseppe (2008). “Masonry Constructions: Mechanical Models and Numerical Applications”. Lecture Notes in Applied and Computational Mechanics. 39. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-79111-9. ISBN 978-3-540-79110-2. ISSN 1613-7736.
  4. ^ a b Girardi, M.; Padovani, C.; Pellegrini, D. (2015-11-01). “The NOSA-ITACA code for the safety assessment of ancient constructions: A case study in Livorno”. Advances in Engineering Software. Civil-Comp. 89: 64–76. doi:10.1016/j.advengsoft.2015.04.002. ISSN 0965-9978.
  5. ^ Pellegrini, Daniele (2024-07-01). “Thermo-mechanical analyses of masonry structures in fire conditions”. Finite Elements in Analysis and Design. 234 104128. doi:10.1016/j.finel.2024.104128. ISSN 0168-874X.
  6. ^ a b Porcelli, Margherita; Binante, Vincenzo; Girardi, Maria; Padovani, Cristina; Pasquinelli, Giuseppe (2015-06-01). “A solution procedure for constrained eigenvalue problems and its application within the structural finite-element code NOSA-ITACA”. Calcolo. 52 (2): 167–186. doi:10.1007/s10092-014-0112-1. ISSN 1126-5434.
  7. ^ Nerilli, Francesca; Roscini, Francesca; Sacco, Elio (2025-10-01). “No-tension axial-symmetric masonry domes: novel curved Lagrangian and NURBS based finite elements”. Computers & Structures. 317 107914. doi:10.1016/j.compstruc.2025.107914. ISSN 0045-7949.
  8. ^ Facchini, Luca; Betti, Michele (2017-10-01). “Time-history analysis of slender masonry towers: a parametric study on the reliability of a simplified Bouc and Wen approach”. Meccanica. 52 (13): 3181–3196. doi:10.1007/s11012-017-0671-8. ISSN 1572-9648.
  9. ^ Lucchesi, Massimiliano (2014), Angelillo, Maurizio (ed.), “A numerical method for solving BVP of masonry-like solids”, Mechanics of Masonry Structures, Vienna: Springer, pp. 71–108, doi:10.1007/978-3-7091-1774-3_3, ISBN 978-3-7091-1774-3{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  10. ^ D’Altri, Antonio Maria; Castellazzi, Giovanni; de Miranda, Stefano; Tralli, Antonio (2017-09-01). “Seismic-induced damage in historical masonry vaults: A case-study in the 2012 Emilia earthquake-stricken area”. Journal of Building Engineering. 13: 224–243. doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2017.08.005. ISSN 2352-7102.
  11. ^ Lucchesi, Massimiliano; Pintucchi, Barbara; Zani, Nicola (2017), Modelling masonry structures through the Mady code (in Italian), PRT, ISBN 978-989-96461-8-6, retrieved 2025-11-28
  12. ^ Lucchesi, Massimiliano; Pintucchi, Barbara; Zani, Nicola (2018-11-01). “Masonry-like material with bounded shear stress”. European Journal of Mechanics – A/Solids. 72: 329–340. doi:10.1016/j.euromechsol.2018.05.001. ISSN 0997-7538.
  13. ^ Carfagnini, Carmela; Baraccani, Simonetta; Silvestri, Stefano; Theodossopoulos, Dimitris (2018-10-20). “The effects of in-plane shear displacements at the springings of Gothic cross vaults”. Construction and Building Materials. 186: 219–232. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.07.055. ISSN 0950-0618.
  14. ^ Bartolini, G.; De Falco, A.; Landi, F.; Resta, C.; Zani, N. (2024-01-01). “Sensitivity analysis on mechanical parameters of continuum models for simulating in-plane tests on existing masonry panels”. Engineering Structures. 298 117044. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2023.117044. ISSN 0141-0296.
  15. ^ Girardi, M., Padovani, C., Pellegrini, D., Robol, L. “NOSA-ITACA: a free FE program for historic masonry buildings” (PDF). Prooceding of the 2nd International Conference on Recent Advances in Nonlinear Models – Design and Rehabilitation of Structures: 43-52.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Bartoli, Gianni; Betti, Michele; Biagini, Paolo; Borghini, Andrea; Ciavattone, Alberto; Girardi, Maria; Lancioni, Giovanni; Marra, Antonino Maria; Ortolani, Barbara; Pintucchi, Barbara; Salvatori, Luca (2017-10-01). “Epistemic Uncertainties in Structural Modeling: A Blind Benchmark for Seismic Assessment of Slender Masonry Towers”. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. 31 (5): 04017067. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001049. ISSN 1943-5509.
  17. ^ Calderini, C.; Bianchini, N.; Lourenço, P.B.; Mendes, N.; Candeias, P.X.; AlShawa, O.; Chácara, C.; Chávez, M. M.; de Felice, G.; Ferrante, A.; Fici, P.; Gagliardo, R.; Kesavan, P.; Lignola, G.P.; Malena, M. (2024-12-01). “Shake-Table Testing of a Brick Masonry Groin Vault: Overview of Blind Predictions and Postdictions and Comparison with Experimental Results”. International Journal of Architectural Heritage. 18 (12): 1825–1851. doi:10.1080/15583058.2024.2419545. ISSN 1558-3058.
  18. ^ a b Azzara, Riccardo Mario; Girardi, Maria; Iafolla, Valerio; Padovani, Cristina; Pellegrini, Daniele (2020-02-07). “Long-Term Dynamic Monitoring of Medieval Masonry Towers”. Frontiers in Built Environment. 6 9. doi:10.3389/fbuil.2020.00009. ISSN 2297-3362.
  19. ^ Girardi, Maria; Padovani, Cristina; Pellegrini, Daniele; Robol, Leonardo (2021-05-01). “A finite element model updating method based on global optimization”. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing. 152 107372. arXiv:2007.00278. Bibcode:2021MSSP..15207372G. doi:10.1016/j.ymssp.2020.107372. ISSN 0888-3270.
  20. ^ Pellegrini, Daniele; Girardi, Maria; Lourenço, Paulo B.; Masciotta, Maria Giovanna; Mendes, Nuno; Padovani, Cristina; Ramos, Luis F. (2018-11-20). “Modal analysis of historical masonry structures: Linear perturbation and software benchmarking”. Construction and Building Materials. 189: 1232–1250. Bibcode:2018CBMat.189.1232P. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.09.034. ISSN 0950-0618.