{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T21:25:14Z","timestamp":1773091514212,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,7,28]],"date-time":"2015-07-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1438041600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In this paper, a new semi-automatic procedure to transform three-dimensional point clouds of complex objects to three-dimensional finite element models is presented and validated. The procedure conceives of the point cloud as a stacking of point sections. The complexity of the clouds is arbitrary, since the procedure is designed for terrestrial laser scanner surveys applied to buildings with irregular geometry, such as historical buildings. The procedure aims at solving the problems connected to the generation of finite element models of these complex structures by constructing a fine discretized geometry with a reduced amount of time and ready to be used with structural analysis. If the starting clouds represent the inner and outer surfaces of the structure, the resulting finite element model will accurately capture the whole three-dimensional structure, producing a complex solid made by voxel elements. A comparison analysis with a CAD-based model is carried out on a historical building damaged by a seismic event. The results indicate that the proposed procedure is effective and obtains comparable models in a shorter time, with an increased level of automation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s150818360","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,7,28]],"date-time":"2015-07-28T10:14:12Z","timestamp":1438078452000},"page":"18360-18380","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":158,"title":["From Laser Scanning to Finite Element Analysis of Complex Buildings by Using a Semi-Automatic Procedure"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Castellazzi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering (DICAM), University of Bologna, V.le Risorgimento 2, Bologna 40136, Italy"}]},{"given":"Antonio","family":"D'Altri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering (DICAM), University of Bologna, V.le Risorgimento 2, Bologna 40136, Italy"}]},{"given":"Gabriele","family":"Bitelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering (DICAM), University of Bologna, V.le Risorgimento 2, Bologna 40136, Italy"}]},{"given":"Ilenia","family":"Selvaggi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering (DICAM), University of Bologna, V.le Risorgimento 2, Bologna 40136, Italy"}]},{"given":"Alessandro","family":"Lambertini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering (DICAM), University of Bologna, V.le Risorgimento 2, Bologna 40136, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,7,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Vosselman, G., and Maas, H.-G. (2010). Airborne and Terrestrial Laser Scanning, CRC."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Shan, J., and Toth, C. (2008). Topographic Laser Ranging and Scanning: Principles and Processing, CRC."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"430","article-title":"The potential of non-contact close range laser scanners for cultural heritage recording","volume":"34","author":"Boehler","year":"2002","journal-title":"Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spat. Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landurbplan.2008.12.006","article-title":"Evolution of the architectural and heritage representation","volume":"91","author":"Pozuelo","year":"2009","journal-title":"Landsc. Urban Plan."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7323","DOI":"10.3390\/s8117323","article-title":"A Comprehensive Automated 3D Approach for Building Extraction, Reconstruction, and Regularization from Airborne Laser Scanning Point Clouds","volume":"8","author":"Dorninger","year":"2008","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.5194\/isprsarchives-XL-1-W1-1-2013","article-title":"Integration of LIDAR data into a municipal GIS to study solar radiation","volume":"XL\u20131\/W1","author":"Africani","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spat. Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"223","DOI":"10.1007\/s11263-007-0105-5","article-title":"Architectural Modeling from Sparsely Scanned Range Data","volume":"78","author":"Chen","year":"2008","journal-title":"Int. J. Comput. Vis."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Guarnieri, A., Pirotti, F., Pontin, M., and Vettore, A. (2006, January 22\u201324). Combined three-dimensional surveying techniques for structural analysis applications. Proceedings of the 3rd IAG Symposium on Geodesy for Geotechnical and Structural Engineering and 12th FIG Symposium on Deformation Measurements, Baden, Austria."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.1080\/15583058.2011.606595","article-title":"Monitoring of Complex Structure for Structural Control Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning (Tls) And Photogrammetry","volume":"7","author":"Guarnieri","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. J. Archit. Herit."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"607","DOI":"10.1016\/j.engstruct.2009.11.007","article-title":"Modelling masonry arches shape using terrestrial laser scanning data and nonparametric methods","volume":"32","author":"Armesto","year":"2010","journal-title":"Eng. Struct."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2667","DOI":"10.1016\/j.engstruct.2009.06.018","article-title":"Historic bridge modelling using laser scanning, ground penetrating radar andfinite element methods in the context of structural dynamics","volume":"31","author":"Lubowiecka","year":"2009","journal-title":"Eng. Struct."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cad.2014.03.001","article-title":"Octree-based, automatic building facade generation from LiDAR data","volume":"53","author":"Laefer","year":"2014","journal-title":"Comput.-Aided Des."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"481","DOI":"10.1520\/JTE20120243","article-title":"Validating Computational Models from Laser Scanning Data for Historic Facades","volume":"41","author":"Laefer","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Test. Eval."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"72","DOI":"10.1061\/(ASCE)SU.1943-5428.0000097","article-title":"Point Cloud Data Conversion into Solid Models via Point-Based Voxelization","volume":"139","author":"Hinks","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Surv. Eng."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"12","article-title":"3D solid model updating of complex ancient monumental structures based on local geometrical meshes","volume":"2","author":"Zvietcovich","year":"2015","journal-title":"Digit. Appl. Archaeol. Cult. Herit."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.culher.2013.07.006","article-title":"Dynamic identification of historic masonry towers through an expeditious and no-contact approach: Application to the \u201cTorre del Mangia\u201d in Siena (Italy)","volume":"15","author":"Pieraccini","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Cult. Herit."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"267","DOI":"10.5194\/isprsannals-II-5-267-2014","article-title":"Survey turned into HBIM: The restoration and the work involved concerning the Basilica di Collemaggio after the earthquake (L\u2019Aquila)","volume":"II-5","author":"Oreni","year":"2014","journal-title":"ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"345","DOI":"10.5194\/isprsarchives-XL-5-W4-345-2015","article-title":"BIM From Laser Clouds and Finite Element Analysis: Combining Structural Analysis and Geometric Complexity","volume":"XL-5\/W4","author":"Barazzetti","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kraus, K. (2007). Photogrammetry, Geometry from Images and Laser Scans, Walter de Gruyter.","DOI":"10.1515\/9783110892871"},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"FARO Laser Scanner Focus 3D. Available online: www.faro.com\/en-us\/products\/3d-surveying\/faro-focus3d."},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"696","article-title":"Investigating laser scanner accuracy","volume":"34","author":"Boehler","year":"2003","journal-title":"Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spat. Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"298","DOI":"10.1016\/j.autcon.2011.09.005","article-title":"Automatic processing of terrestrial laser scanning data of building facades","volume":"22","author":"Martinez","year":"2012","journal-title":"Autom. Constr."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"551","DOI":"10.1109\/TIT.1983.1056714","article-title":"On the shape of a set of points in the plane","volume":"29","author":"Edelsbrunner","year":"1983","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory"},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Moreira, A., and Santos, M.Y. (2007, January 8\u201311). Concave Hull: A k-Nearest Neighbours Approach for The Computation of the Region Occupied By A Set of Points. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications (GRAPP 2007), Barcelona, Spain."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"307","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4419-7311-5_68","article-title":"Assessment of the effect of natural and anthropogenic aquatic noise on vaquita (Phocoena sinus) through a numerical simulation","volume":"730","author":"Castellazzi","year":"2012","journal-title":"Adv. Exp. Med. Boil."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Taubin, G. (1995, January 20\u201323). Curve and surface smoothing without shrinkage. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Computer Vision, ICCV \u201995, Cambridge, MA, USA."},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"4","article-title":"The 2012 Pianura Padana Emiliana seimic sequence: locations, moment tensors and magnitudes","volume":"55","author":"Scognamiglio","year":"2012","journal-title":"Ann. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2333","DOI":"10.1007\/s10518-013-9520-x","article-title":"Damage assessment of fortresses after the 2012 Emilia earthquake (Italy)","volume":"12","author":"Cattari","year":"2014","journal-title":"Bull. Earthq. Eng."},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"Orlando, A. (2014). Estense Fortress at San Felice Sul Panaro: Modelling and Seismic Assessment. [Master Thesis, Univestity of Genoa]."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"914","DOI":"10.1109\/TVCG.2012.34","article-title":"Efficient and flexible sampling with blue noise properties of triangular meshes","volume":"18","author":"Corsini","year":"2012","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Vis. Comput. Graph."},{"key":"ref_31","unstructured":"Cignoni, P., Callieri, M., Corsini, M., Dellepiane, M., Ganovelli, F., and Ranzuglia, G. (2008). MeshLab: An open-source mesh processing tool. ERCIM News, 1."},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"NTC 2008, Norme Tecniche per le Costruzioni, D.M. 14\/01\/08, 2008. Available online: www.cslp.it."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"25","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00195554","article-title":"Modelling elastic and shrinkage properties of wood based on cell structure","volume":"25","author":"Koponen","year":"1991","journal-title":"Wood Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"299","DOI":"10.1007\/s11831-010-9046-1","article-title":"Structural analysis of masonry historical constructions. Classical and advanced approaches","volume":"17","author":"Roca","year":"2010","journal-title":"Arch. Comput. Methods Eng."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"Meli, R., and Pena, F. (2004, January 10\u201313). On elastic models for evaluation of the seismic vulnerability of masonry churches. Proceedings of the Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions, Balkema, Leiden."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1447","DOI":"10.1016\/j.engstruct.2009.02.030","article-title":"Seismic analysis and strengthening design of a masonry monument by a rigid body spring model: The Maniace Castle of Syracuse","volume":"31","author":"Casolo","year":"2009","journal-title":"Eng. Struct."},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"Chopra, A.K. (1995). Dynamics of Structures, Prentice Hall. [3rd ed.]."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/15\/8\/18360\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T20:49:49Z","timestamp":1760215789000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/15\/8\/18360"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015,7,28]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,8]]}},"alternative-id":["s150818360"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s150818360","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015,7,28]]}}}