Masonry Spiral Stairs: A Comparison between Analytical and Numerical Approaches
, Claudia Cennamo 2, Concetta Cusano 2,*, Arsenio Cutolo 3, Antonio Fortunato 1 and Ida Mascolo 3,*
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript reports an interesting comparison between analytical and numerical approaches for the structural analysis of masonry spiral stairs.
The subject is worthy of consideration, and the topic has been discussed and presented through the paper with very good scientific expertise.
Few minor suggestions are provided to improve the presentation of the study:
- fig. 3 does not seem informative; its removal or replacement is suggested.
- fig. 9: instead of Pa it is suggested to use MPa.
- the results of the FE analysis show the effectiveness of the LASA. This referee agrees with a linear elastic model. More details can be included in the manuscript with respect to the use of the APDL to build the FE model. Even if the FE model is a linear one, the authors can check following reference for nonlinear masonry modelling with ANSYS: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21753-6_14
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
We are grateful to the reviewer for examining our manuscript and thank him/her for all the helpful comments.
Point 1: fig. 3 does not seem informative; its removal or replacement is suggested.
Response 1: Figure 3 has been removed.
Point 2: fig. 9: instead of Pa it is suggested to use MPa.
Response 2: Agreed
Point 3: the results of the FE analysis show the effectiveness of the LASA. This referee agrees with a linear elastic model. More details can be included in the manuscript with respect to the use of the APDL to build the FE model. Even if the FE model is a linear one, the authors can check following reference for nonlinear masonry modelling with ANSYS: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21753-6_14
Response 3: The following paragraph has been added to Sect. 3.3 of the revised manuscript:
“On account of the helicoidal symmetry of the stair, efforts have been made to design and generate the geometry of the step with a central support zone, in order to represent the spiral staircase. In particular, some parameters like the step rise, the inner and outer radii of curvature delimiting the walkable surface, the angle defined by each step as well as the number of them, have been used to generate the parametrical model. The first step has been fixed at the ground and a rigid behavior has been assigned to the surfaces between adjacent steps by imposing appropriate constrain equations.”
Moreover, we added the suggested reference to the bibliography of the revised manuscript.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
It is a interesting work. But the authors should give clear research significance.
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The application boundary of the LASA numerical simulation method should be given. in other word, if the LASA method can be used to other research?
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
We are grateful to the reviewer for examining our manuscript and thank him/her for all the helpful comments.
Point 1: The application boundary of the LASA numerical simulation method should be given. in other word, if the LASA method can be used to other research?
Response 1: This point has been clarified in the Conclusion Section of the revised manuscript as follows:
“It is important to underline that the LASA is an extension of the classical Catenary solution in which both the load and the shape of the thrust line (linear arch) are assigned. The most important challenge of the method is to identify a curve able to transmit the loads in pure compression. In other words, LASA can be successfully applied to the design or equilibrium assessment of any masonry vaulted structure provided that the constraints are able to withstand the normal and tangential stress components (p_n and p_t)”
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
