THE DOME OF THE SAN FRANCESCO DI PAOLA BASIL: A REAL GEOMETRY BASED ASSESSMENT

This study presents an assessment of the state of stress of the dome of San Francesco di Paola Basil Naples. The number of Finite Analyses of masonry structures proposed over the years is now uncountable, but most of the studies make reference to ideal geometries, even if based on actual measurements. The present work, on the contrary, does not rely upon any regular geometrical model but, instead, on what could be defined as a scan of the actual structure which accounts for both the original plan and on the inevitable construction imperfections. It is found that these apparently negligible, but diffuse imperfection from an ideal modelling lead to a substantially different state of stress from what could be expected from a regular geometry. The findings are discussed and it is also shown that they give reason of the actual cracking patterns on the dome.