Braced Barrel Vault-Its Analysis, Economy & Practical Considerations

‘Braced barrel vault’ is now-a-days used to roof the industrial buildings, ware houses, food grain godowns, gymnasium and large-field-game houses. It is a structure similar in configuration to a shell; it is not, however, homogeneous, being a braced assembly of bars. A typical braced barrel vault (fig. 1) generally consists of several lattice trusses which span from the chords of cylinder and cover the length of the barrel. These lattice girders are supported either on the end truss or on walls. All these lattice girders, which vary from 6 to 12 in practical design, are interconnected by common booms.