Abstract

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 (CLOUD2FEM) conceives 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 proposed method allows to always produce a filled three-dimensional model ready to use for structural analysis purpose. A comparison analysis with a CAD based model is carried out on a historical building damaged by a seismic event.