Experimental and Numerical Response of Arch Bridge Historic Masonry Under Eccentric Loading

This study contributes to the knowledge of the compressive behavior of brickwork used in railway bridges and shows how to incorporate this information in structural modeling. An experimental investigation is carried out on brickwork specimens made with old clay bricks and lime mortar to reproduce the original components and the arrangement of masonry arch bridges built in Italy at the end of the nineteenth century. The specimens are subjected to monotonic and cyclic displacement-controlled compression tests, under centered and eccentric loading. Based on experimental results, a beam model with fiber cross-section is used to describe the macroscopic behavior of brickwork, where the fiber constitutive relationship is estimated according to the concentric tests. Eccentric tests are finally simulated and the comparison between theoretical predictions and experimental results reveals the capability of the model to reproduce the global force-displacement and bending moment-curvature experimental behavior and its suitability for the structural analysis of masonry arch bridges.