Arnaud Montabert (Ecole Normale Supérieure)
I am currently working at Laboratoire de Géologie of Ecole Normale Supérieure (PSL university) as a postdoctoral researcher. My research work is focused on the interdisciplinary study of past earthquakes. I got a PhD (2016 - 2021) in quantitative historical seismicity prepared at Laboratoire de Géologie de l’Ecole Normale Supérieure (Université Paris Sciences et Lettres) cosupervised by BERSSIN (Bureau d’évaluation des risques sismiques pour la sûreté des installations), LMAPS (Laboratoire de modélisation et d’analyse de la performance des structures) from IRSN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire) and AOROC (Archéologie & Philologie d’Orient et d’Occident).
Before my PhD thesis I got a highly interdisciplinary training : in geosciences, geotechnics and civil engineering (engineering degree from Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Géologie), in observation and modeling of geophysical processes (Ecole Normale Supérieure & Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris) and archaeological sciences (Ecole Normale Supérieure).
Fascinated by past seismic events, I joined 2015 the «Earthquake geology and archaeoseismology » group of the Cologne University (Germany) to study the seismic response of ancient walls by using discrete element models. In 2016, I joined the french RECAP ANR program as an associated researcher to improve my knowledge in building archaeology. My work was focused on the study of the impact of the 62-63 A.D. earthquakes that occurred in Pompei by using stratigraphic analysis of archaeological ruins and repairs. I moved to IRSN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire) in 2017 working at the border between engineering seismology and earthquake engineering with the BEGC (Bureau d’Expertise de Génie Civil) and the BERSSIN teams to improve my skills in structural dynamic modeling and ground motion characterization. My work was focused on the study of the relationship between ground motion selected from a worldwide ground motion data center and the seismic response of nuclear facilities.
In my Ph.D. thesis, I study the Sant’Agata del Mugello church, a medieval parish church located in the Mugello area (Tuscany) struck by several historical earthquakes. I aimed to infer their key ground motion characteristics involving: stratigraphic analysis of the church combined with historical data, the identification of modal parameters using ambient vibration testing, the vibration-based modal updating through an optimization process, the use of a continuum damage model to study the non-linear behavior of this unreinforced masonry building, and the description of ground motion by computing Intensity Measures.
