Effect of brick arrangement on structural behaviour of Persian brick masonry barrel vaults by micro-modelling

In this paper, the effect of brick arrangement on structural behaviour of Persian brick masonry barrel vaults has been studied by the micro-modelling method using non-linear finite element analysis performed by the ANSYS code. Vaults have semi-circular, pointed and four-centred crosssectional shapes. Two different spans and three different lengths, with Roman brick arrangement and Persian brick arrangement have been considered. The vaults have been subjected to linear load at mid-span, linear load at one-third-span, support settlement, inward rotation of one support, inward rotation of two supports and outward rotation of two supports. In the cases of linear load at mid-span and support settlement, the Persian brick arrangement is more satisfactory in the semi-circular and pointed vaults, and the Roman brick arrangement is favoured in the fourcentred vault. In the case of linear load applied at one-third-span, the load-bearing capacity provided by the Persian brick arrangement is up to two times the Roman brick arrangement. When one support rotates inwards, the Roman brick arrangement is always better. For both cases of inward and outward rotation of two supports, the performance of the Persian brick arrangement is more satisfactory in pointed and four-centred vaults, and that of Roman brick arrangement is better in the semi-circular vault.