Modelling a post-tensioned stone arch or beam in Strand7

[Gigi2000]

Hi everybody, I'm a last year architecture student passionate about contemporary techniques of stone building. I'm trying to model a stone arch, made by several voussoirs and reinforced with internal cables: I've read that the contact between adjacent voussoirs may be modelled in Strand7 by using point contact elements, but what about the internal cables? Is it possible to somehow simulate the epoxy interface between the cable and the internal surface of the hole drilled in each voussoir; is it possible to assign a pre-tensioning to the cables and how do I decide its value? Moreover, given a 3d model imported from Rhino, is it necessary to manually connect every single node of the adjacent contact surfaces in order to simulate the compression only behaviour of mortar? Hope you can help me and thank you very much in advance

 

[human909]

There is a student forum for student questions. However your question is well articulated so I'll give you a few words. And I'm guessing you might be Australian as Strand7 is particularly popular in Australia.

What you are asking is pretty damn advanced FEA for even for an experienced engineer. Let alone a student whose focus is architecture. So I would encourage you to assess whether you really do want to take on this particular challenge.

With that out of the way. Almost ANYTHING is 'possible' in a flexible FEA package like Strand7. But the practical achievability of it is limited by suitable model inputs which is forever the challenge. You seem to have a decent grasp of some of your challenges (which is more than many students asking questions here). But if you want a better answer to your question more pictures and diagrams might help.

 

[Gigi2000]

Thank you for your kind reply, I'm actually from Italy . I know it's a difficult subject, but I'm willing to take on the challenge as it's something I'm really interested into. I don't have a specific element ready for the analysis, but I may set up a sample arch if needed!

 

[Gigi2000]

Sorry for the delay. I modelled the arch with solid elements connected by point contact at their interface. Now I think it's necessary to perform a pushover analysis to determine the seismic behaviour of the structure so as to design the steel post tensioning. How do I perform such analysis? Thank you very much