The analysis of unreinforced brick masonry Vaults

Abstract

There has been a revival of interest in unreinforced brick masonry vaults in recent years. The present thesis deals with studies on smallspan brick masonry vaults with a view to developing an understanding of their structural behaviour. Chapter 1 briefly reviews the various historical developments in arch and vault construction since ancient times. The importance of vaults in the development of construction technology has also been touched upon. The literature on arches has been reviewed and the relevance of analysing vault constructions has been highlighted. Chapter 2 discusses the use of Flügge’s and Donnell’s equations for the analysis of various circular cylindrical shells-shallow, moderately shallow, and nonshallow. The limits of applicability of Donnell’s and Flügge’s categories have been determined by evaluating the resultant values. Chapter 3 uses Flügge’s equations to analyse the stresses in typical smallspan brick masonry vaults (spans: 3.0 m and 4.5 m) with lengths ranging from 0 m to 90 m. Two thicknesses (7 cm and 10.5 cm) are considered. Based on the results of the analysis, the effects of various parameters such as shallowness, length of vault, and thickness on vault stresses have been determined. Chapter 4 deals with experimental measurements on the strength and elasticity of brick masonry and presents the results of a load test on a typical masonry vault. Chapter 5 considers the behaviour of masonry vaults resting on yielding walls along their longitudinal edges. The effect of yielding wall support on vault stresses has been evaluated for various categories of vaults. Broad guidelines for the design of smallspan brick masonry vaults have been suggested. Chapter 6 considers noncircular profiles such as catenary, ellipse, and parabola for vaults, and the analysis is carried out using the finite strip method. The results show the superiority of catenary and matching elliptical shapes over other profiles for unreinforced masonry vaulting. The thesis ends with a final chapter on summary and concluding remarks, including directions for further research.