Seismic analysis of a masonry arch bridge using multiple methodologies

Abstract

Masonry arch bridges form a noteworthy portion of road and railway networks in Europe and Turkey. Structural assessment of such bridges is often required because of their vulnerability to seismic actions. However, there are no standardized or widely accepted procedures, and the available assessment methods comprise significant uncertainties. This paper presents a seismic assessment of a stone masonry arch bridge using different methodologies by investigating the seismic behavior of masonry arch bridges and the uncertainties in the assessment methods presented. The Finite Element (FE) macro-modeling approach is used in modeling the behavior of the structure under investigation, after undertaking ambient vibration testing and dynamic identification study to determine the dynamic parameters of the structure. These experimental parameters were used to update the FE model before performing the seismic assessment using Nonlinear Static Analysis (NSA), Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis (NDA) and Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA). The IDA helped to depict the complete picture of the seismic behavior, whereas the comparison of the results highlighted the limitations of the NSA and enabled presenting recommendations for future work. In addition, the effects of the interaction of horizontal and vertical components of earthquake records in NDA underlined the necessity for their consideration in similar studies.