Investigation of the effects of window opening and pulley height on behavior and strength on stone domes

In this thesis, the effects of dome pulley height and window opening ratio on the behavior of masonry domes are investigated. A total of eight experimental dome models are tested, two of them named reference are produced with no pulley and six of them with different heights of pulley. The dome elements tested experimentally are also analyzed numerically using the LUSAS analysis program. The experiment results are presented in comparison with the numerical results, and comments are made about the results. It is observed that the analysis results and the experimental results overlapped with each other. Whereupon, a numerical parametric study is carried out by analyzing on twelve dome models in order to examine the effect of window opening ratio on the dome behavior. As a result of the analyses made on modeled dome elements and experimental study, the effect of the window opening and height of pulley on the dome behavior are determined. It is observed that the height of the pulley and the ratio of window opening significantly affect the load bearing capacity and horizontal displacement of the dome. In general, as the pulley height increases, the load bearing capacity of the dome increased, and its horizontal displacement decreased, while as the ratio of window opening increases in the domes, the load carrying capacity decreases and the horizontal displacement increases.