Issue 43

P. Zampieri et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 43 (2018) 182-190; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.43.14 182 Structural behaviour of masonry arch with no-horizontal springing settlement P. Zampieri, N. Simoncello, C. Pellegrino Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padova, Via Marzolo, 9 - 35131 Padova, Italy paolo.zampieri@dicea.unipd.it , http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4556-5043 A BSTRACT . This paper presents a calculation procedure for assessing the structural integrity of a masonry arch with non-horizontal springing settlement. By applying the Principle of Virtual Work (PVW) to the deformed arch system, the procedure proposed herein details the reaction forces and thrust lines for each step of imposed settlement of the support. The procedure can also be used estimate the final displacement that causes complete failure of arch structural capacity. The results of the analysis procedure were compared against those obtained by experimental testing so as to validate the proposed calculation method. K EYWORDS . Safety of masonry arches; Collapse mechanism; Springing settlement; Experiment. Citation: Zampieri, P., Simoncello, N., Pellegrino, C., Structural behavior of masonry arch with no-horizontal springing settlement, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 43 (2018) 182-190. Received: 18.11.2017 Accepted: 28.11.2017 Published: 01.01.2018 Copyright: © 2018 This is an open access article under the terms of the CC-BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. I NTRODUCTION ssessment of the structural integrity of masonry arch structures is highly important, as the arch represents the main structural element of many existing constructions (bridges and buildings) both in Europe and around the world. Consequently, the structural behaviour of masonry arches continues to be subject of scientific research. The first modern studies on the structural behaviour of masonry arch structures were conducted by Heyman [1], who introduced simplified hypotheses for the application of equilibrium limit analysis to assess the load-carrying capacity of such structures. Heyman’s work gave rise to numerous subsequent studies that assessed the main aspects affecting the structural response of masonry arches. In particular, recent studies have focused attention on the dynamic [2-6] and seismic behaviour [7-20] of existing masonry arch structures. One structural problem that has been rather neglected [21-24] in recent studies involves the behaviour of arches as a result of imposed settlement to the supports. The behaviour of arches with horizontal settlement has been comprehensively studied both by applying limit analysis [22-24] and through experimental testing [22]. Nonetheless, the structural behaviour of masonry arches undergone a non-horizontal displacement of supports is still partially unexplored. The study of masonry arch resistance to the imposed settlement of supports is important, as this type of stress can be found in existing structures. For example, in masonry arch bridges, settlement of the arch supports may occur due to loss of load carrying capacity of the subsoil. Another example is steel ties in historical buildings, used to counteract the horizontal trust of arch. If damaged, these can be cause of settlement of arch springing. A