Static Behavior of a Historic Roof Structure

Abstract

Historic roof structures of large monumental buildings are often complex with static behavior that is difficult to grasp. Yet, understanding their static behavior is necessary to adequately preserve and maintain them. The aim of this paper is twofold. The more general aim is to develop use of the finite element method in combination with visualization and to demonstrate its potential both for providing an understanding of historic structures and their static behavior and for supporting a dialogue regarding these matters. The more specific aim is to examine the static behavior of one particular roof structure and the damages to it that occurred. The roof structure selected was that of the medieval Swedish castle of Glimmingehus. A detailed computational model of the roof truss was developed, in terms of which a set of possible causes of the damages observed was simulated. Reliable causes were found and three-dimensional visualizations were carried out to demonstrate their respective influence on the overall structural behavior. As expected, use of visualization in the analysis was found to be very helpful for interpreting the relationship between the computational model and the computed results.