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Numerical insights on the structural assessment of historical masonry stellar vaults: the case of Santa Maria del Monte in Cagliari

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present an in-depth numerical investigation on the statics of historical masonry stellar vaults, a special class of masonry ribbed vaults whose three-dimensional geometry features a star-shaped projection on the horizontal plane. In particular, the mechanical behavior of the masonry stellar vault belonging to the church of Santa Maria del Monte in Cagliari (Italy) is analyzed and illustrated as an especially meaningful case study. This church, which was built during the second half of the sixteenth century, is a beautiful example of Gothic-Catalan style, and its ribbed stellar vault is one of the most representative of this type in the town of Cagliari. The geometric outline of the vault has been obtained through laser scanning techniques and a procedure of reverse engineering. Starting from a three-dimensional representation of its geometry, the ultimate load-bearing capacity of the stellar vault can be accurately estimated through a recently developed, NURBS-based upper-bound limit analysis scheme. A comparison with incremental nonlinear analyses carried out with the commercial finite element code DIANA is presented. Furthermore, the paper also includes a sensitivity study aimed at investigating the role of ribs on the ultimate load-bearing capacity of the structure.

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Acknowledgements

The financial support of Fondazione di Sardegna and R.A.S. (the Autonomous Region of Sardinia) under the research grant for project Healthy Cities and Smart Territories (2016–2017) is gratefully acknowledged by Antonio Cazzani. The financial support of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia under Grant PO-FSE 2014–2020, CCI: 2014IT05SFOP021, Project: Retrofitting, rehabilitation and requalification of the historical cultural architectural heritage (R3-PAS) is acknowledged by Flavio Stochino. Laser scanning of the stellar vault of Santa Maria del Monte Church has been performed with the equipment of LabMAST (the Mediterranean Lab for Materials and Historical and Traditional Architectures belonging to the University of Cagliari) by Monica Deidda and Andrea Dessì. Their professional help is recognized with gratitude by all authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (A.B.C.), Technical University of Milan, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milan, Italy

    N. Grillanda

  2. Department of Engineering, University of Ferrara, Via Saragat 1, 44122, Ferrara, Italy

    A. Chiozzi, F. Bondi & A. Tralli

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Via Marengo 2, 09123, Cagliari, Italy

    F. Manconi, F. Stochino & A. Cazzani

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  1. N. Grillanda
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  2. A. Chiozzi
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  3. F. Bondi
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  5. F. Manconi
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Correspondence to A. Cazzani.

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Communicated by Victor Eremeyev, Holm Altenbach.

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Grillanda, N., Chiozzi, A., Bondi, F. et al. Numerical insights on the structural assessment of historical masonry stellar vaults: the case of Santa Maria del Monte in Cagliari. Continuum Mech. Thermodyn. 33, 1–24 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00161-019-00752-8

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