Abstract
The possible cause at the origin of the meridional cracks in the dome of the Pantheon in Rome is addressed and investigated through a detailed three-dimensional model. Material nonlinearities, as well as a plausible sequence of the construction stages, are modeled. The parametric study set for considering the uncertainties regarding the volumetric straining and the thermal expansion coefficient of Roman concrete demonstrates that shrinkage and gravity could have been the main mechanical causes of the cracks in the early phases of the building's life. The numerical simulations show crack patterns which are in good agreement with the existing one, for both the spatial distribution and extent.
Highlights
1.1 The object of the studyThe Pantheon is one of the most admired and studied monuments ever1
Apollodorus of Damascus, at least until 121, when seemingly he was first exiled by Hadrian and executed in 125, according to Dione Cassius
Apollodorus was the architect of many great constructions during the reign of the Emperor Trajan, namely of the great bridge over the Danube, of the Trajan’s Forum and Markets, of the artificial harbor of Porto and so on
Summary
The Pantheon is one of the most admired and studied monuments ever. The Pantheon is probably the joint work of Hadrian and of the Nabatean great architect. The main body of the Pantheon, the so-called Rotonda recalls, probably intentionally, the celebrated discovery of Archimedes of the volume of a sphere inscribed in a cylinder[Boyer,. The touch of Archimedes is present with regard to another aspect: the coffering that is sculpted in the intrados of the dome is subdivided into 28 parts, and it was Archimedes that studied the related problem of partitioning a circle into 7 parts. F its aesthetic role, serves to reduce the dome’s weight
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