Tile vaults as integrated formwork for concrete shells: construction, experimental testing, structural analysis and design

Formworks for concrete shells are typically expensive and wasteful. Tile vaults can be used as permanent formwork for concrete shells, to reduce construction waste and cost, and thereby provide an interesting solution for the efficient construction of vaulted structures. Concrete would be poured onto a tile-vaulted formwork, afterwards forming a composite structure. This document is a summary of a PhD thesis* from the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ)[1], supervised by Prof. Dr. Philippe Block (ETHZ) and Prof. Dr. Pere Roca (UPC). The dissertation proposes the use of tile vaults as integrated formwork for concrete shells and presents the construction technique, conclusive experimental research for its validation and a reliable FE model for its structural analysis. Furthermore, a two-dimensional method for the design and structural assessment of such structures is developed and implemented computationally. The first steps and preliminary results in the three-dimensional approach to this method are also described.Postprint (author's final draft