From Point Cloud to Numerical Tuning: Digital Twin of a Historic Masonry Tower

This study presents a streamlined workflow for the structural and dynamic assessment of a historic masonry tower integrating terrestrial laser scanning, ambient vibration testing, and finite element modelling. The case study concerns the Torre del Borgo in Recanati, Italy, a medieval masonry structure located in an area characterized by moderate-to-high seismic hazard. Two geometric modelling strategies derived from the same survey dataset are com-pared: an indirect model generated from the point cloud and a simplified direct CAD model obtained from selected cross-sections. Both models were implemented in a finite element en-vironment and subsequently calibrated using the modal parameters obtained from an Opera-tional Modal Analysis (OMA) conducted on the tower. The experimental results were further used to evaluate the reliability and practical operability of the numerical models in repro-ducing the observed dynamic behaviour. The comparison highlights the influence of geomet-ric fidelity on the numerical interpretation of the structural response of heritage masonry towers. The results show that high-resolution survey data can significantly improve the rep-resentation of the structure, although an effective modelling strategy requires a balanced compromise between geometric accuracy, interoperability, and computational efficiency.