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Civil-Comp Proceedings
ISSN 1759-3433
CCP: 40
ADVANCES IN OPTIMIZATION FOR STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Edited by: B.H.V. Topping
Paper II.2

Limit State Analysis of Masonry Vaults

D.W. O'Dwyer

Department of Civil Engineering, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Full Bibliographic Reference for this paper
D.W. O'Dwyer, "Limit State Analysis of Masonry Vaults", in B.H.V. Topping, (Editor), "Advances in Optimization for Structural Engineering", Civil-Comp Press, Edinburgh, UK, pp 35-44, 1996. doi:10.4203/ccp.40.2.2
Abstract
This paper describes a new technique for the limit state Analysis of arcuate masonry vaults. The technique involves modelling the principal stresses in a masonry vault as a discrete network of forces. This network of forces is constrained to lie within the masonry vault and be in equilibrium with the loads applied to the vault. Optimisation techniques are used to select the optimum forces within the network and network shape. The network model can be optimised to calculate either, the geometric factor of safety for a set of known loads, or the collapse load factor for a given pattern of imposed loading. The application of the force network model is demonstrated by applying it to calculate the collapse load factor of a masonry barrel vault carrying a single imposed point load.

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