Software that can model Masonry vault or Arch 1

[JDG3718]

Is there any software that can Model a masonry vault or arch as shown in the picture attached ?
And if anyone can help me on how to check the stability of such element ? (any reference, books or articles are very much appreciated)

 

[WARose]

Pretty much any FEA software can model it. The last time I did it, I used STAAD. (I.e. finely meshed stick elements.)

As far as stability/buckling goes, Roark's has a number of formulas. So does Guide to Stability Design Criteria for Metal Structures (by: Galambos). (Obviously you would have to use transformed properties where applicable.)

Usually for a masonry arch, forming it is about as big a problem as any other. Sometimes you can kill 2 birds with one stone by having a curved angle for support during (and after) forming.

 

[dik]

The University of Sheffield in the UK is heavily into masonry arches... they have software called Ring??? if I recall. You may want to contact them by eMail.

Dik

 

[masonrygeek]

A little slow on the reply, but there are various references you can use for masonry arches. A simple check using an Excel spreadsheet can be used as described by Nigel Shrive of the University of Calgary "Simple Design Procedures for Masonry Arches" which can be found here:

http://www.hms.civil.uminho.pt/ibmac/2000/1687.pdf.

Typically, semi-circular or Roman arches are self-supporting and don't need a steel angle to support them depending on the load and how deep the arch ring is. Flat arches or segmental arches are more difficult to design as a self-supporting arch. Many of the research papers on arches deal with masonry arch bridges and not building arches. Here is a recent paper on using FEM on an arch bridge:

https://www.degruyter.com/downloadpdf/j/cls.2018.5.issue-1/cls-2018-0001/cls-2018-0001.pdf.

Maybe that will reinforce some of the ideas you are exploring.

The references at the end of each paper may give you more resources as well.

Brian