Parametric study of the effect of hollow spandrel (Konu) on structural behaviour of Persian brick masonry barrel vaults

In this paper, the structural analysis of Persian brick masonry barrel vaults with hollow spandrels (konu) with seven different arches of semi-circular, drop, ordinary and raised pointed, and drop, ordinary and raised four-centred under uniformly distributed load, linear load, pier settlement, pier rotation, temperature and the earthquake has been performed. Non-linear behaviour has been assumed for the materials. The finite element code ANSYS has been used for analysis. The Willam-Warnke failure criterion has been used for brick masonry. The case of equal heights of konus and vaults of the structure has been the most favourable case. The settlement of the middle pier has been the most inappropriate case and the structure has failed quickly. For different cases of pier rotation, the pointed arch has had a better performance than the semi-circular and four-centred arches. For the temperature, the induced displacement in the pointed arch has been more than other arches. Under different states of earthquake analysis, all structures have been failed. Konus are the starting points of cracking and they always contribute to the failure mechanism.