Masonry curved elements, such as arches, vaults and domes, are among the most widespread, and fascinating, world historical Architecture structural elements. Written historical records about the set of technical rules used ...

Masonry is one of the oldest construction materials used by man and still widespread worldwide. Historic buildings with a masonry structure are generally admirable engineering works with paramount socio-economic value and ...

Traditional materials (steel, concrete, timber and masonry) still dominate the building industry. However new materials are constantly being explored by engineers and scientists due to their numerous advantages offered. With ...

This dissertation presents continuum and discrete approaches to the statics of masonry vaults. The thrust surface concept is introduced within Heyman’s safe theorem and extends the funicular curve to the3D case. A variational ...

Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) materials are appealing as alternative to traditional construction materials due to their high tensile strength, excellent resistance to aggressive environments, high strength to weight ratio, ...

The aim of this thesis is to introduce the reader to nanotechnologies and functionally graded nanomaterials by providing definitions, classifications and potential applications. In particular, the thesis summarizes the ...