Abstract
PurposeTransfer relations represent analytical solutions of the linear theory of circular arches, relating each one of the kinematic and static variables at an arbitrary cross-section to the kinematic and static variables at the initial cross-section. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the significance of the transfer relations for structural analysis by means of three examples taken from civil engineering.Design/methodology/approachThe first example refers to an arch bridge, the second one to the vault of a metro station and the third one to a real-scale test of a segmental tunnel ring.FindingsThe main conclusions drawn from these three examples are as follows: increasing the number of hangers/columns of the investigated arch bridge entails a reduction of the maximum bending moment of the arch, allowing it to approach, as much as possible, the desired thrust-line behavior; compared to the conventional in situ cast method, a combined precast and in situ cast method results in a decrease of the maximum bending moment of an element of the vault of the studied underground station by 46%; and the local behavior of the joints governs both the structural convergences and the bearing capacity of the tested segmental tunnel ring.Originality/valueThe three examples underline that the transfer relations significantly facilitate computer-aided engineering of circular arch structures, including arch bridges, vaults of metro stations and segmental tunnel rings.
Highlights
The curvature of arches renders their structural analysis more challenging and expensive than that of straight beams
(3) The hybrid method allows for re-analysis of the bearing capacity of the tested segmental tunnel ring
It is interesting to compare the used approach for structural analysis based on transfer relations to the alternative and very popular approach of numerical analysis based on the finite element method (FEM) for curved beams
Summary
The curvature of arches renders their structural analysis more challenging and expensive than that of straight beams. Transfer relations, representing analytical solutions of the linear theory of slender circular arches, were developed by Zhang et al (2017) They are arranged, in a matrix-vector form, as follows: an 1 7 vector on the left-hand side, containing the kinematic and static variables at an arbitrary cross-section of the arch, is obtained as the product of a 7 7 matrix and an 1 7 vector, containing the kinematic and static variables at the initial cross-section of the arch. The three described applications from bridge and subsurface engineering were selected to underline the versatility of the transfer relations They allow for computing analytical solutions of the theory of thin circular arches for highly statically indeterminate arch bridges, for statically determined vaults representing three-hinged arches and for threetimes kinematic segmental tunnel rings.
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