Capacity assessment of masonry arches on moving supports in large displacements: Numerical model and experimental validation

• Published in: Engineering failure analysis Vol. 129; p. 105700
• Main Authors: Galassi, Stefano, Misseri, Giulia, Rovero, Luisa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2021
• Subjects: Combinatorial analysis; Large displacements; Masonry arch; Reduced-scale experimental models; Rigid block model; Support movement; Large displacements; Masonry arch; Support movement; Rigid block model; Reduced-scale experimental models; Combinatorial analysis
• ISSN: 1350-6307; 1873-1961
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2021.105700

[Display omitted] •Study on load-bearing capacity of masonry arches on moving supports.•Innovative numerical procedure for rigid block analysis in large displacements.•Exploitation of the combinatorial analysis to detect the settlement mechanism.•Determination of new position of hinges inducing zero work increase.•Experimental and numerical test, varying thickness, embrace angle and rise of arches. In the framework of rigid block analysis of masonry arches in large displacements, an innovative numerical procedure that estimates the collapse mechanism and the limit support movement is proposed, allowing the modelling of possible hinge change and therefore the evolution of the mechanism. Making use of combinatorial analysis, the position of the hinges at the onset of the settlement is found. Then, the admissible equilibrium condition is verified for any finite increase of the settlement and if the condition is violated, a new configuration of hinges inducing zero work increase is searched for. In this way mechanism evolution and hinge change are modeled as the support movement increases. The numerical procedure is employed to interpret both tests on pointed arches performed by the authors and tests on circular arches available in the literature. Broad sensitivity analyses to uncover the effect of thickness and embrace anglefor circular archesand thickness and risefor pointed archesare also reported. Results show that hinge change can allow the arch to accommodate larger displacements. For vertical movements, only the central hinge changes position, while for the arch on spreading supports, the hinges at the haunches move although without significantly improving displacement capacity.