Abstract
The paper illustrates the results of a study aimed at understanding the structural behaviour of earthen corbelled domes, used as roofs in several villages in the Aleppo’s region. The materials and the shape of the domes suggested the hypothesis of a “monolithic” structural behaviour, justified by the very good bond between earthen bricks and earthen mortar, and by the use of very low values of thickness, which would have otherwise lead to collapse during the construction. Thanks to this hypothesis, although the dome is built with corbelled layers (“false dome”), the membrane theory can be applied to analyze the stresses in the domes under investigation. The results of this analysis, that were compared also to those obtained by a finite element analysis with shell elements, show that the dome is subjected to biaxial compression only; moreover, the dome shape seems close to the funicular surface due to its own weight, i.e. a dome shape is the optimal geometrical choice for that material.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bendakir M (2008) Architectures de terre en Syrie. Une tradition de onze millénaires. ENSAG CRATerre Editions, Grenobles
Benvenuto E, Corradi M (1988) La statica delle false volte, Nel cinquantenario della Facoltà di Architettura di Napoli. Franco Jossa e la sua opera, Napoli
Besenval R (1984) Technologie de la voute dans l’Orient Ancien (2 vols.). Recherche sur le Civilisations, Paris
Briccoli Bati S, Rovero L (2001) Natural additives for improving the mechanical properties and durability of adobe building material. Mats Eng J 3(12):413–425
Briccoli Bati S, Rovero L, Tonietti U (2008) Considerations on methods to evaluate the compressive strength of earth building materials. International conference Terra 2008, Bamako, Mali
Cavanagh WG, Laxton RR (1981) The structural mechanics of the Mycenaean Tholos Tombs. Annu British School Athens 76:109–140
Colombo G (2003) Manuale dell’ingegnere. U. Hoepli, Milano
Como MT (2005) L’architettura delle tholoi micenee: analisi degli aspetti compositivi, costruttivi e statici. Tesi di dottorato (PhD theses), Università degli Studî Suor Orsola Benincasa, Napoli
Como MT (2006) Analysis of the statics of the Mycenaean Tholoi. In: Proceedings of the second international congress on construction history, vol 1. Cambridge
Fábrega A (2003) Estudi mecanical de la flasa cupola, n. 19, SCM Notícies, pp 12–18
Flügge W (1962) Stresses in shells. Springer, Berlin
Heyman J (1977) Equilibrium of shell structures. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Houben H, Guillaud H (1989) Traité de construction en terre, CRAterre—EAG, Parentheses, Marseille
Juvanec B (2001) Six thousand years, and more, of corbelling, age of stone shelters. UNESCO/ICOMOS Congress I, Paris
Mainstone R (2001) Development in structural form. Oxford Architectural Press
Pelon O (1976) Tholoi, tumuli et cercles funéraires, Paris
Rohlfs G (1963) Primitive costruzioni a cupola in Europa. Leo S. Olschki, Firenze
Santillo Frizell B (1988) The autonomous development of dry masonry domes in the Mediterranean area. AJA 92:234–235
Santillo Frizell B (1998) Monumental building and propaganda at Mycenae. In: Proceedings of the 1st international conference on ancient Greek technology, Thessaloniki, pp 625–631
Timoshenko S (1959) Theory of plates and shells. McGraw-Hill Book Company
Vargas Newmann J (1980) Adobe constructions. basis for a seismic resistant code. In: Proceedings of seventh world conference on earthquake engineering, Ankara, Turkey
Acknowledgments
This work was carried out inside the European Research Project “Cupoles et Habitats: une tradition constructive entre Orient et Occident” (“Culture 2007” Program-Contract n. 2007-1134/001-001 “CTU COHANT”) and thanks to its participators.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rovero, L., Tonietti, U. Structural behaviour of earthen corbelled domes in the Aleppo’s region. Mater Struct 45, 171–184 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-011-9758-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-011-9758-1