On the construction stage analysis of historical masonry vaults

A growing interest in the preservation of historical masonry constructions led to analysing in detail the structural behaviour of masonry vaults. In the last decades, several approaches have been proposed to analyse vaults’ behaviour under static and dynamic loads, which depends on different parameters such as shape, mechanical properties of masonry and brick patterns. In this paper, the static behaviour of a historical masonry sail vault, characterized by a complex brick pattern and by a segmental shape, is analysed. Such typology of vaults is widely diffused in the area of Cagliari, where many of them have been built during the XIX century. Some hypotheses about the constructive techniques adopted are investigated. In particular, the role played by the arrangement of the bricks is considered. The purpose is to check whether the adopted bricks pattern allows construction of vaults without formwork. Starting from a geometry model which has been reconstructed from a complete laser scanner survey, a finite element model is developed to perform a construction stage analysis. Thus, the evolution of the stresses acting on the different parts composing the vaults during the construction process is studied, assuming that no formwork has been used.