Combined adaptive limit analysis and discrete FE approach for the structural assessment of skew arches

Abstract

An innovative procedure for the structural assessment of skew arches is here proposed. This peculiar configuration can be found in several masonry bridges that characterized the European road network. Arch bridges which present a grade of skewness have been already a topic of research in the last years as their peculiar geometric configuration may lead to several difficulties during numerical predictions. Here an innovative procedure is applied on a skew arch which experimental and numerical results are available in the literature. Such an approach is based on coupling two different approaches typically applied to masonry structures: i) a previous kinematic limit analysis which provides the collapse mechanism, ii) a consequent non-linear analysis by employing a 3D discrete approach in order to fulfill the requirement of the current codes. The aim of the paper is to provide an initial overview of the capabilities of the method with the view to extend its applications to more complex structures.