Experimental and numerical investigation on masonry arch bridges under uniform and line loads

Abstract

In this paper, the performance of Persian skewed brick masonry arch bridges under uniform and line loads has been investigated. Three types of semi-circular, pointed and four-centred arches have been studied. Bridges with two spans and six spans have been analysed using the three-dimensional non-linear finite element method. The parameters considered are four skew angles, three pier width to span ratios, three bridge width to span ratios, three pier height to span ratios, and three deck thickness to span ratios. Loading includes uniformly distributed load on the entire surface of the bridge deck, line load at the middle of the middle pier, and line load at the apex of one of the arches. The suitable ranges of the skew angle to create the maximum load-bearing capacity have been obtained for different loadings, different types of the arches and other parameters.