Title: Finite element thrust line analysis of cracked axisymmetric masonry domes reinforced with tension rings

Authors: Mahesh Varma; Siddhartha Ghosh; Gabriele Milani

Addresses: Nandadeep Designers and Valuers Pvt Ltd., Aurangabad 431001, India ' Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India ' Department of Architecture, Built environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milan, Italy

Abstract: Masonry domes under self-weight are subjected to hoop tensile forces in their lower portion, which lead to vertical cracks appearing along the dome's meridian planes. Almost always, a close inspection reveals such hoop tension cracks. At the final extent of cracking, the dome stands as a series of arches with a common key stone. Tension rings put around the perimeter close to the base of a dome are commonly used to arrest these cracks. However, the behaviour of domes with tension rings is not well understood. This paper presents an enhancement of the finite element thrust line analysis in order to analyse masonry domes with tension rings. The development of a new element to include the effect of both hoop and meridian tension cracks, utilising orthotropic material properties and a penalty approach, is discussed in detail. The case study for a hemispherical cupola with fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) hoop rings shows that the proposed method can accurately estimate the thrust line of the dome.

Keywords: unreinforced masonry; domes; FETLA; finite element thrust line analysis; finite element; thrust line; tension ring; FRP.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMRI.2018.089058

International Journal of Masonry Research and Innovation, 2018 Vol.3 No.1, pp.72 - 87

Received: 16 May 2017
Accepted: 28 Aug 2017

Published online: 04 Jan 2018 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article