Mesoscale analysis of multi-span masonry arch bridges
Author(s)
Tubaldi, Enrico
Minga, eleni
Macorini, Lorenzo
Izzuddin, bassam
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Masonry arch bridges often include multiple spans, where adjacent arches and piers interact with each other giving rise to a complex response under traffic loading. Thus, the assumption commonly used in practical assessment that multi-span masonry viaducts behave as a series of independent single-span structures, may not be realistic for many configurations. While several experimental and numerical studies have been conducted to investigate single-span masonry arches and bridges,only limited research has been devoted to the analysis of the response of multi-span masonry bridges. This study investigates numerically masonry arch bridges with multiple spans subjected to vertical loading. For this purpose, an advanced finite element description,which is based upon a mesoscale representation for masonry and accounts for both material and geometric nonlinearities, is employed to shed some light on the actual behaviour of these structural systems. A validation study is first carried out to confirm that the adopted modelling strategy is capable to accurately simulate previous experimental results.Then, the influence of some critical geometrical and mechanical parameters that affect the bridge response is evaluated through a parametric study.The effects of pier settlements and brickwork defects are also investigated, as well as the interaction between adjacent spans through comparisons against the response of single-span counterparts.
Date Issued
2020-12-15
Date Acceptance
2020-07-16
Citation
Engineering Structures, 2020, 225, pp.1-16
ISSN
0141-0296
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
1
End Page
16
Journal / Book Title
Engineering Structures
Volume
225
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Identifier
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141029619349375?via%3Dihub
Grant Number
657007
Subjects
Civil Engineering
0905 Civil Engineering
0912 Materials Engineering
0915 Interdisciplinary Engineering
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2020-09-15