Numerical simulation of the fracturing processes in masonry arches. Issue 1 (21st October 2015) - Carpinteri, Alberto
Abstract: Masonry arch structures, and, more generally, vaulted structures, are traditionally assessed using a well‐established approach, such as linear elasticity or limit analysis, whereby system behaviour at the intermediate stage – which occurs when the material's tensile strength has been exceeded but the collapse mechanism has not yet formed – is disregarded. A more accurate interpretation requires a thorough analysis that can take into account the intermediate cracking stage and uses a constitutive law providing a closer approximation to the actual behaviour of the material. In this paper, an evolutionary fracturing process analysis for the stability assessment of masonry arches is presented. This method makes it possible to capture the damaging process that takes place when the conditions evaluated by means of linear elastic analysis no longer apply and before the conditions assessed through limit analysis set in. Furthermore, the way the thrust line is affected by the opening of cracks and the redistribution of internal stresses can be checked numerically. The results obtained with the described approach are compared with a numerical simulation performed with the finite element code Diana (TNO, The Netherlands) adopting discrete cracking with cohesive laws. Finally, the case study of the arch of the Mosca Bridge over the Dora River in Turin, Italy, is described. (© 2015 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)