A modified corbelling theory for domes with horizontal layers

In the Mediterranean area, buildings with roofs arranged as corbelled domes comprise a widespread and valuable heritage that deserves protection and enhancement. Unfortunately, structural behavior of corbelled domes has been investigated only to a limited extent. pare results from the corbelling theory in the determination of intrados and extrados curves that attain limit balance conditions against evidences in two real cases of study. This shows that the theory is not able to capture the structural behavior of the corbelled domes. We thus propose a modified corbelling theory that emulates the actions along dome parallels through the collaboration among infinitesimal meridian wedges. Results obtained show that the proposed theory is able to correctly interpret the structural behavior of these domes.