Profound Shift of Thrust Line of Masonry Vault Through Boundary Condition and Modelling Strategy for Structural Stability Study Using FETLA: Real Life Example

Because the vault structure has a lot of redundancy, there are many possible equilibrium solutions. Conventional Finite Element Analysis (FEA) provides a singular solution focused on minimizing strain energy, neglecting the varying modulus of elasticity under tension and compression, as typically exhibited by masonry structures. When studying masonry vaults, it's important to keep in mind the main properties of the material "masonry," such as its heterogeneity, low resistance to tension, good compressive strength, and high friction coefficient. It's also important to remember how important the overall shape is for achieving equilibrium. This study presents a structural assessment of a 9-meter Spanning Un-Reinforced Masonry (URM) vault at a library building under construction using stone and lime at Wani, Nashik, India. The primary objective is to evaluate the vault's structural response to self-weight and superimposed loads under varying boundary conditions. The results show that changes in boundary conditions and modeling approach modify the Thrust Line, which affects load-bearing efficiency and how structural integrity is interpreted. This large variations in FEA results necessitate the need for modification in conventional FEA to incorporate different material behavior in tension and compression, and also gives necessary insight on effect of modelling strategy on stability study