Analysis of masonry arches and vaults

Abstract

AbstractA growing interest in the preservation of historic structures has created a need for methods for the analysis of load‐bearing unreinforced masonry structures, such as arches, vaults, and buttresses. Although the plasticity methods, first applied to medieval structures in detail by Heyman, provide a useful and intuitive approach to the understanding of the behaviour of masonry arches and vaults, their usefulness in performing actual assessments of such structures has limitations. The constitutive laws of the materials used in masonry structures are not always amenable to accurate treatment by the rigid–plastic simplification, and the complexity of many vaulted masonry structures makes the application of these methods difficult. Moreover, empirical studies have shown that these structures may be subject to three‐dimensional effects that are not entirely addressed by the application of plastic or elastic analysis in two dimensions. Progress has been made recently in the development of constitutive laws for ancient masonry structures and in the application of these to the analysis of unreinforced masonry structural systems. Various formulations of three‐dimensional finite element analysis, including discrete element methods, and plasticity methods have also proven useful.