A study on modeling the cross-section of the mud brick vault roof

摘要

A purpose of this study is to model the cross-section shape of the mud brick vault roof.From the ancient times, mud brick is still used for the construction of the vault roof today in Egypt.Generally, forming a vault roof by bricks needs centering.However, Egyptian masons construct it skillfully without such support.Therefore this method of construction has two features.One is that handiness of the construction, the other is a low-cost.These features are often pointed out.But shape of the cross-section of the roof which this method forms is rarely mentioned concretely in comparison with these features.Hassan Fathy is an Egyptian architect.He planned a new village in Luxor (Egypt).The project required him to provide a large quantity of houses within the budget.So He proposed this method for this project.And this was carried out partially.The record of his project shows the dimensions of the brick which was made for the roofs.Also, the relation between the span of the roof and the number of the brick forming it is described.In these, the cross-section form of the vault roof is modelled geometrically.