Shear and flexural deformations in flextegrity segmental beams inspired by Leonardo’s triangular masonry construction

In Tabula XCI verso of Codex Atlanticus, Leonardo da Vinci presents an ingenious masonry structure composed of segments in the shape of inverted triangles. These are assembled by contact in a chain to obtain a lintel or jack arch, where they are pressed together by the thrust of the end constraints. Drawing inspiration from Leonardo’s sketches, we show that, by connecting the segments in pair through elastic tendons, this system represents a new type of flextegrity beam. In a classical flextegrity, the contact surfaces of the segments are curved conjugate profiles, imposing a pure rolling motion along properly designed pitch lines: the consequent elongation of the tendon dictates the constitutive response as a function of the relative rotation of the segments. Here, the contact is through plane surfaces, so that the kinematics, besides the relative rotation, is characterized by segmental shearing. This system is theoretically analysed and a continuum model is derived as the length of the segments becomes small. Comparisons with experiments on three-dimensional-printed prototypes confirm the theoretical findings and highlight the possible competition between rotational and sliding types of deformation. Apart from the historical value, this type of construction can be used in innovative structures or metamaterials.