G Engineering Center: Pro! Ramaswamy, Director Strnctural Res Arch Roorkee, India
G Engineering Center: Pro! Ramaswamy, Director Strnctural Res Arch Roorkee, India
G Engineering Center: Pro! Ramaswamy, Director Strnctural Res Arch Roorkee, India
(30-lb) LeI lhe vertical load acling on lhe shell be g per unil area.
Inserting llUs value in equalion 30-4 , we gel:
251
252 Designing, Engineering, and Constructing with Masonry Products
(30-5)
Equation 30-9 dennes the desired shape of the funicular
surface. This relation may be generalized to make it inde-
In practice, shallow shells are general1y favoured for roofing pendent of the coordinate system employed by recasting
applications. For such shell roofs. 1'2 and q2 are small in Equalion 30-9 in vectorial form as:
comparison with unity. and Qne may write:
2 (30-10)
2N 6 z + (30-6)
xy 6x6y
It must be distincUy understood that a shell surface can be
At this stage let us specify the desired stress state. As made funicular only for one specined loading condition. In
already explained . it i5 desirable to have a pUfe compression our case, vertical loading was selected, because the dominant
state in the masonry unaccompanied by shear. Shear stresses load to which a sheli roof is normally subjected is vertical.
should be obviated as they cause tension. For 0l'timum However, experience gained with numcrous funicular shells
.!!.tilization of the compressive strength of the material Nx and a1ready built shows that , a1though their shape is selected for
Ny must be equal. These conditions may be formulated as optimum performance under vertical loads, Ihey behave very
follows: well under other loads.
where N is the magnitude of the desired compression in the Equation 30-10 is the weU-known Poisson's differential
masonry . and: equation of mathematical physics. It may also be noted that it
is the equation which governs the height Z of the PrandUI
(30-8) membrane in the Membrane Analogy for Torsion . Many
available results relating to torsion af prisma ti c bars afvarious
cross sections 2 may, therefore , be drawn on to find funicular
~----------------x
shell shapes corresponding to various ground plans. Figure
30-2 gives equations af funicular surfaces over some af the
usual graund plans. The ordinates of a funicular surface over a
given groulld plan can also be computed accurately at desired
intervals by manual methods of computation such as Relax-
ation. Alternatively , by employing numerical methods, the
y
Fy
,LF./#__ N,
Poisson 's equatian can be solved on an electronic digital
computer to arrive at ordinates of lhe surface accurately.
y
J--x F---N,
roof are easily obtained by multiplying the ordinates of the
model by the scale factor. The modol of a funicular shell roof
over an oval ground plan, generated by tltis process, is shown
in Figure 30-3.
A more sophisticated method is to blow up a rubber
membrane over the desired ground plan and measure its
ordinates.
It is also well-known that the Poisson's equation involved
Figure 30-1. can be solved by the Electrical Analogy Method.
Funicular Brick Shell Roofs for Industrial Buildings 253
-(-o)
,
no '
.'
$'
)lI'[ n- l ,3 ,5 • .
Bending Analysis of Furneular Sh.lIs i
Equation 30-10 dermes the funicular surface only ir a (i co~h W ) c.os --
n ff b
n",
-za-
membrane stress state prevails . Secondary bending stresses do
c.osh
"
arise in lhe shell in Ule neighbourhood of the edge members. A
.. - .-,
m 2:=
study was reeently made of a funicular shell using the shallow
z • 16!.~ ~(_\)T
shell bending theory of Vlasov 3 . It was found that even after n _ l, 3, 5, .
n
1 x
bending stresses are taken into aceount . lhe sheJl is more OI
less in a state of low compression throughout. The small • (, - c.O$h lI1tY)
---rã""" c.o~
tensile stresses that develop are well witltin the limits that co!.h 'fi;- -,,-
n"
$ ~
X X . --
2N
g a1. b
ai "b2
1
(1.
• Y
ar b'"- + 2 I)
given in Figure 304. Several shells of this type have been built
for the National Design Institute, Ahmedabad, India. Figure
30-5 shows the finished view of one of the shells. The shells
measuring 41' x 41' are supported 00 reinforced concrete edge
beams }'-2" x 3'-6" which, in tum, rest on reinforced concrete
colurnns. The roof is 4-1/2" thiek and is built ofbricks laid on
•
(f)- x
.
, . ...!..-(x2 +y2_ a1)
w-
>-- . ----l
edge. The joints wltieh are 1/2" and 1-1/2" wide are filled with
mortar. The brickwork is lightly reinforced by the provision of , • % z.~ [1 (x,2 +y2)_-h()I,5 - 3xi)-z~ z
a]
3/8"-<liameter reinforeement at 10-1/2" in both direetions.
The joint width is entirely governed by the need to provide
adequate concrete coveI to the reinforcement to prateet it ~~ ~
fram corrosion caused by emorescence. The handmade bricks
had an average compressive strength of 800 p.s.i. Th.is quaJity Figure 30-2. Equations of funicular surfaces over some of the
of brick was considered quite adequa!e for the purpose as the usual ground plans.
Figure 30-3. Model of a funiculor shell roof over an oval ground plano
254 Designing, Engineering, and Constructing with Masonry Products
I
~ tnncr face of edge beam
, EdO' b,em
•
3/8 Dia . bors @
#. CIC both ways
4 Nos J /4 dtO, bors
3/e" Dia. stirrups
4 Nos. 3/4· dia . bars
~'
Hollow cloy blocks
boom
{ AfOC,,-
'2'
4 Nos. vt dia . bars
llá Dia stirrups
4 Nos. 5/0' dia. ba r!>
+-=-+
SECTION XX DETAIL AT A
Figure 30-6. Unreinforced funicular shell built with hollow c/ay blocks.
compressive stresses that develop in lhe shell under a vertical Stress-resultant in the shell in the x direction
load of 52.5 p.s.f. were of the order of only 175 p.s.i. Stress resultant in the shell in the y direction
A different technique was employed for a masonry shell Shear slress resultant
roof recently built at Roorkee , India. Measuring 22' x 20', it is Psuedo slress resultant in lhe x direction
built of extruded hollow clay blocks of the type shown in Psuedo stress-resultant in the y direction
Figure 30-6. The 1:4 cement morta r joints between the blocks Psuedo shear stress resultant
are only 5/8" wide. The shell is supported on reinforced Externai force acting on the shell elemen t in the x
concrete edge beams which rest on colurnos. Details Df this direction
roof are given in Figure 30-6. A finished view of the roof soffit ExternaI force acting on shell element in y
cao be seeo in Figure 30-7. direction
Externai force acting on shell element in z
Conclusion direction
x Psuedo force in x direction
Brick funicular shell roofs of the type described in this y Psuedo force in y direction
chapter offer ao economical means af roofing large cúlurnn- Z Psuedo force in z dircction
free spaces required for factory buildings. They are especially ,,2 Laplacian operator
suitable for wide application in the developing countries af the g Verticalload acting on the sheU per unit area
world where there is a pressing need to conserve lhe small N Desired compressive stress in the shell
supply of cement and steel. The brick funicular shell roofs
developed by lhe author are ao outgrowth af lhe extensive
work carried out by him aver the past ten years 011 reinforced
concrete funicular shells. 4 ,S References