The relevant losses determined by recent earthquakes stressed the vulnerability of historical masonry constructions towards horizontal seismic actions, therefore highlighting the need for reliable approaches for the structural assessment and following retrofit. During the last decades, the scientific community has widely investigated the tools to analyse the performance of such structural typologies, resulting in a multitude of different methodologies depending on the building’s features and the goal of the analysis. The task is particularly challenging because of the frequently limited knowledge concerning the state of the art and the high structural complexity due to overlapped construction phases. A general literature review of the methods adopted for the structural assessment of historical masonry buildings is proposed in the present paper. The methods are grouped according to the operational scale, providing an overview of the current state of the art.

The experimental results of a testing campaign including tensile and low-cycle fatigue tests on different reinforcing steel bar types in the as-delivered and corroded condition are presented. Experimental data were statistically analyzed adopting ANOVA technique; Performance Indicators (PIs), describing the mechanical performance characteristics of reinforcements, and Corrosion Damage Indicators (CDIs), describing the detrimental effects of corrosion phenomena, were determined and correlated in order to evaluate the influence of corrosion on the behaviour of reinforcing steels, providing useful information for designers in addition to what is presented in current standards.