Numerical Investigation of Structural Behaviour of Historical Stone Arches

Marco Bovo

doi:10.32474/tceia.2019.03.000160

Abstract

Highlights

The seismic assessment of complex existing masonry building often requires numerical models to be used in order to properly evaluate the actual structural response of the system, when subject to several loading conditions [1]
This aspect is important for large masonry buildings, where a comprehensive detailed model of the whole building coupled with a non-linear material constitutive model could heavily increase the computational cost and the efforts necessary for the analysis and the post-processing of results
A further key aspect to be carefully considered when dealing with the seismic assessment of structures, concerns the evaluation of their ductility which depends on many different factors

Summary

Introduction

The seismic assessment of complex existing masonry building often requires numerical models to be used in order to properly evaluate the actual structural response of the system, when subject to several loading conditions [1]. Numerical predictions coming from the local FE model are compared with experimental results concerning the tests on arches Both static (for symmetric and asymmetric loading conditions) and dynamic test are considered in the analyses. The maximum displacement is attained at the loaded quarter (on the right) In both cases, the numerical results fit satisfactorily with the experimental outcomes, confirming that the model is representative of the real behaviour of the structure in the linear range. The numerical frequencies obtained for the two modes identified fit with acceptable approximation with the average values of experimental frequencies, i.e. f1,exp=12.93Hz and f2,exp=17.95Hz

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion