fan vault

Vaults consisting or solid concave-sided semicones, meeting or nearly meeting at the apex of the vault, the areas between cones being flat, and the whole being given a highly decorative treatment with ribs that fan out from the vault's springing.

Quick Facts on fan vault

Go Historic ID

374

Getty AAT ID

300001396

Term Type

structural component

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Definition

A fan vault is a masonry shell whose representative surface is a surface of revolution: a generating curve that is smooth and concave from below is rotated around a vertical axis located on its outer, i.e. convex side. The shell is ornamented with or constructed on congruent vertical ribs that are positioned radially at equal angles.

Statics of fan vaulting: current state of knowledge and open issues royalsocietypublishing.org

Definition

Vaults consisting of solid concave-sided semicones, meeting or nearly meeting at the apex of the vault, the areas between cones being flat, and the whole being given a highly decorative treatment with ribs that fan out from the vault's springing.

Definition

An English speciality, a shell technology based on inverted, cut-stone cones. True fan vaults consist entirely of shaped blocks with no conventional ribs and panels. The quarter- or semicircular cones butt against each other, creating a central zone of inward pressure sufficient to suspend an almost flat cut-stone ceiling or sculptured boss.

Vault Grove Art Online

Definition

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