Historical study and static assessment of an innovative vaulting technique of the 19th century

摘要

We report on a historical study and on the evaluation of the structural performance of an innovative vaulting system developed in the 17th and 18th centuries. This peculiar construction technique, which employed clay hollow cylinders as construction blocks, was used to reduce erection times and costs as well as to guarantee several static and functional benefits connected to the reduced weight and high isolating performance of these elements. The static performance of the structure is assessed by employing the Thrust Network Analysis technique, a recently formulated methodology used to study the equilibrium of masonry shells. It is shown by numerical comparisons that the actual geometry of these structures sensibly influences their equilibrium. For this reason, the combination of several innovative surveying techniques has been employed to increase the accuracy of the geometrical model.