Modes of failure of multi-ring masonry arches under fatigue loading

Multi-ring masonry arches represent a significant proportion of the UK bridge stock. More than 60% of those bridges are over 100 years old. Due to the constantly increasing weight of road and rail traffic, there is increasing demand for better understanding of their life expectancy, capacity under cyclic loading and for identifying failure mechanisms. There have been a number of small and large-scale tests carried out on masonry arches but most of them were under static loading. There has been however very little work done on trying to identify their load capacity and behaviour under cyclic loading. The present work reports a series of large-scale tests on multi-ring masonry arches subjected to cyclic loading, their modes of failure and associated cyclic load capacity. Considerations for an endurance limit for masonry arches have been presented. While four-hinge mechanism is considered as the main form of failure under static loading, ring separation has been identified as the main form of failure under cyclic loading and also in certain cases under static loading. Some theoretical approaches describing the causes of failures have also been discussed. For the covering abstract see ITRD E126028.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0727733540
• Authors:
  • PARKE, G A
  • DISNEY, P (
  • MELBOURNE, C
  • TOMOR, A K
  • WANG, J
• Publication Date: 2005

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 476-83
• Serial:
  • BRIDGE MANAGEMENT 5: INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, ASSESSMENT AND REPAIR. PROCEEDINGS OF THE 5TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BRIDGE MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF SURREY, 11-13 APRIL 2005
  • Publisher: Thomas Telford Limited

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Arch bridges; Conferences; Failure; Masonry construction; Mechanical fatigue; Repeated loads
• ITRD Terms: 3427: Arch bridge; 8525: Conference; 5520: Failure; 5579: Fatigue (mater); 4529: Masonry; 5588: Repetitive loading
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Maintenance and Preservation; I53: Construction of Bridges and Retaining Walls; I61: Equipment and Maintenance Methods;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01012537
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• ISBN: 0-7277-3354-0
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Dec 20 2005 3:35PM