Numerical and Experimental Dynamic Analysis of 3D-Printed Pierced Vault

In the present paper, a form-finding of shallow grid shells was introduced based on the multi-body rope approach (MRA) for the definitions of vaults with optimized shapes and different hole percentages. In order to obtain experimental validation, a physical model was reproduced at the laboratory scale performing ad hoc measurements to compare the observed respect to the simulated behaviour. A 3D printing procedure based on the Fuse Deposition Modeling (FDM) technique in polylactide (PLA) material was used to realize formworks of the cement-based blocks of the scaled prototype. Several static and dynamic load configurations are investigated, collecting the parameters into a sensitivity analysis, which mainly affects the structural behaviour. To compare the natural frequency obtained by experimental tests with those evaluated with a numerical model, an impulse test has been performed. Results show that an improvement in the modelling strategies adopted for the numerical model is necessary for the identification of the real structural dynamic response of the vault.