Equilibrium of cracked masonry domes Available to Purchase

This paper analyses the structural stability of cracked masonry domes. For historical masonry domes, small movements of the supports will cause cracking and may lead to collapse. As the supports move apart, the structure adapts, causing the crown of the dome to descend and meridional cracks to form, which increases the value of horizontal thrust on the supports. The theoretical minimum thrust of hemispherical domes is determined with a modified thrust line method, which is an improvement over the membrane theory by allowing hoop forces and meridional forces to deviate from the dome centreline. An iterative computation is used to determine the amount of horizontal support movement necessary to cause collapse for a rigid block dome and the results are verified experimentally with scale models.