Nonlinear structural analysis of the elliptical dome of the church in the Universidad Laboral, Gijón, Spain

Abstract

The Church of the Laboral University of Gijón has the world's largest elliptical masonry roof with 40.8 meters of mayor axis. This big structure is vertically supported with no columns using twenty pairs of masonry ribs crossing each other, and horizontally supported by means of two elliptical ring beams located at the top of the Church. In order to study this historical building, this paper presents the overall three-dimensional structural numerical analysis of the Church, taking into account different material nonlinearities - including masonry and reinforced concrete - as well as geometrical nonlinearities, such as contact effects among the different structural components of the building. Furthermore, a coupled thermal-structural analysis was carried out considering the summer temperature distribution and the Spanish standard rule dead and live loads. The most relevant results, in terms of maximum displacement, stress and, cracking and crushing phenomena are presented. Finally, valuable information from the interaction among the structural elements of the Church are discussed and the most critical points of the building are located, giving place to the most important conclusions of the nonlinear numerical analysis of this interesting structure.