No abstract

No abstract

The paper deals with some of the explicit and numerical methods used for modeling the mechanical behavior of masonry vaults and domes. After a brief description of the constitutive equation of masonrylike materials, a numerical method for the structural analysis of masonry vaults is presented. Then, the concept of maximum modulus eccentricity surface for masonry vaults is recalled. Subsequently, the collapse load and the corresponding mechanism are explicitly calculated for two particular cases: a circular plate subjected to a permanent load acting on the lateral surface and a variable vertical load applied to the extrados, and a spherical dome subjected to its own weight and variable point load applied to the keystone. The exact solutions are compared to the numerical results obtained via finite element analysis. Lastly, a study of the dome of the church of Santa Maria Maddalena in Morano Calabro is described. The method has enabled the stress field and the fractures distribution in the dome to be determined and the maximum modulus eccentricity surface to be evaluated.

No abstract

This paper presents a constitutive equation for masonry vaults which associates to each pair of generalized strains (A, K), where A are the strains, K are the curvature changes of the mean surface, the pair of generalized internal forces, (N, M) with N and M being the normal forces and bending moments per unit length, respectively The maximum modulus eccentricities surface is defined, and its main properties are proved. Subsequently, the limit analysis for masonry vaults is set forth and applied to the evaluation of the collapse load for a toroidal tunnel subjected to its own weight and an uniform load applied on the top circle.