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Traditional Vault Construction Without Formwork: Masonry Pattern and Vault Shape in the Historical Technical Literature and in Experimental Studies

A study on the construction of vaults without formwork is presented, concerning the traditional techniques of constructing the most common half-stone vaults. This discussion is based on a comparative study including a critical revision of the historical technical literature on the topic, information from artisans, and analyses of historical structures, as well as studies on models and a prototype building. In addition to the description of characteristic masonry patterns, a main focus of this article is the shape of the vault surfaces in relation to the particular construction process. The aim of these considerations is in first place a better understanding of the traditional technique and to provide the base of the design process. Beyond that, an accurate surface model for vaults is proposed to be helpful for the numerical modeling of their structural behavior.