Damaging Behavior of Masonry Arch Bridges: Analysis of ‘Ponte delle Torri’ in Spoleto, Italy

Addessi, Daniela; Liberatore, Domenico; Nocera, Mariacarla

doi:10.1080/13632469.2019.1690599

Cited by 10 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…By the way, the study here presented, which is focused on an equivalent single pier, allows for obtaining information only on the out-of-plane response of the overall bridge and is a suitable choice if the attention is mainly focused on this behavior. As shown in Reference [10], a very good match is obtained when the response of the equivalent pier is compared to that of the bridge, both in the linear elastic and nonlinear field, depending on the frequency content of the applied seismic signal. When the first out-of-plane mode of the bridge is mostly excited, the analysis performed on the single pier gives suitable information in terms of out-of-plane displacement history, acceleration, and damaging paths.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…This method, although computationally expensive, has recently taken hold to study the complex dynamic behavior of masonry arch bridges, as this represents the most advanced deterministic analysis tool available. Usually, artificial or natural earthquake time histories are selected on the basis of the seismic characteristics of the specific site and its design response spectrum [3,7,10,11]. Moreover, first attempts to apply the Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) to masonry bridges should be mentioned [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This paper focuses on the seismic assessment of 'Ponte delle Torri' in Spoleto, a Roman bridge whose current configuration results from several constructive phases over the centuries and dates back to the early 13th century. The dynamic response of 'Ponte delle Torri' has already been investigated in a recent work by some of the authors [10], considering a set of natural earthquake records properly selected in order to match the defined design spectra. The main aim of the present study is to analyze the structural dynamic response of the masonry bridge under a sequence of recorded accelerograms simulating the seismic history of Spoleto.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A nonlocal integral definition is introduced for the latter to overcome the pathological mesh dependency of the FE solution due to the strain-softening nature of the constitutive law. The described numerical procedure is used to investigate the nonlinear dynamic response of a single pier, whose geometry and boundary conditions are selected so that its response can provide useful information on the out-of-plane dynamic behavior of the overall bridge [10]. This is subjected to the single selected records and to the sequence composed of these to evaluate the effect of the accumulated damage on the overall dynamic response.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of a Masonry Arch Bridge Accounting for Damage Evolution

et al. 2021

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This study investigates the nonlinear dynamic response of the masonry bridge ‘Ponte delle Torri’ in Spoleto, aiming at assessing the seismic performance of the structure and evaluating the occurring damaging mechanisms. A 3D Finite Element (FE) macromechanical procedure implemented in the FE program FEAP is adopted to model the bridge. To reproduce the typical nonlinear microcracking process evolving in masonry material when subjected to external loads, an isotropic damage model is used. This is based on a scalar damage variable introduced in the stress-strain constitutive law and equally degrading all the components of the elastic constitutive operator. A nonlocal integral definition of the damage associated variable, that is the equivalent strain measure governing its evolution, is adopted to overcome the mesh dependency problems of the FE solution typically occurring in the presence of strain softening behavior. Based on the results of a recent study by some of the authors, a single equivalent pier is analyzed, whose geometry and boundary conditions are selected so that its response can provide useful information on the out-of-plane dynamic behavior of the overall bridge. To perform the seismic assessment, a set of recorded accelerograms is properly selected to simulate the seismic history of the Spoleto site. The nonlinear dynamic response of the structure is evaluated and monitored in terms of top displacement time history, evolution of the global damage index, and distribution of the damage variable. First, a set of analyses is performed by imposing the selected ground motions one by one on the initial undamaged configuration for the structure with the aim of emphasizing the damaging effects on its dynamic response. Then, the accelerograms are arranged in sequence to reproduce the seismic history of the site and analyze the influence of accumulated damage on the dynamic amplification of the response. A critical comparison of the bridge response to the sequence of accelerograms and the single records is made, and the interaction between the damaged structure dynamic response and the signal characteristic is highlighted, as well.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of a Masonry Arch Bridge Accounting for Damage Evolution

et al. 2021

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“…Although an extensive review of the state of the art on the subject is not the aim of this paper, several investigations and studies can be found in the technical literature; in most cases these studies are aimed at monitoring the state of the infrastructures in order to assess their safety. The classical studies in the structural field aimed at evaluating the mechanical behavior of the artifacts, the characterization and state of conservation of the component materials, their seismic vulnerability and structural modeling for the safety of road and railway bridges [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of Stratigraphic Analysis to Enhance the Inspection and Structural Characterization of Historic Bridges

et al. 2021

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Road networks are disseminated of bridge structures whose typology reflects the time of design and construction of the transportation infrastructure and its relevance in the reference geographical area. Among others, masonry bridges are still widely operational, especially in those regions affected by a limited urbanization and a very high landscape value. As a consequence, the maintenance and the reliability of existing structures is a key issue for owners and managers of road and railway infrastructures. This circumstance leads to the development of an integrated approach able to cover the needs of knowledge of the technological and structural features of the bridge along with its history and current conditions. The main contribution of the study lies in the implementation of such an interdisciplinary approach through the application of archaeological stratigraphic method and 3D data management to historical masonry bridges. The survey and inspection protocol, whose first results are here presented, aims to improve the knowledge of the assets, and facilitate the visual inspection. The results refer to a road infrastructure located along the Aterno River in the surroundings of L’Aquila (Central Italy) and point out promising perspectives in terms of feasibility and scalability of the approach to large stocks of assets.

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A discrete‐element approach accounting for P‐Delta effects

Cusmano

Pantò

Rapicavoli

et al. 2023

Earthq Engng Struct Dyn

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This paper presents a discrete macro‐element accounting for P‐Delta effects to describe the rocking response of masonry walls subjected to out‐of‐plane (OOP) loadings. Both constitutive and geometric nonlinearities are considered within the discrete macro‐element method (DMEM), which is a modeling approach characterized by a very low computational cost compared to traditional distinct element method (DEM) and detailed finite element (FEM) strategies. OOP failure mechanisms are the main cause of severe damage for unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings, subjected to seismic actions. These mechanisms are generally activated by low seismic excitation and displacements. However, after their activation, they can evolve towards large displacements related to rigid‐block‐like kinematics that strongly affects the nonlinear mechanical response. Therefore, geometric nonlinearities, often ignored, should be included in the analyses. A new simplified, still accurate P‐Delta formulation is presented, according to which the global equilibrium is imposed by referring to the undeformed system configuration, avoiding assembling the geometric stiffness matrix. Namely, the system load vector is updated at each step of the analysis, accounting for the additional moments generated by the in‐plane compression forces acting on the macro‐elements in the deformed configuration. The proposed model is validated against closed‐form analytical solutions of rigid‐block benchmarks in large displacements and the results of experimental tests already available in the literature. In addition, extensive parametric analyses are performed to investigate the role of different mechanical and geometric parameters characterizing the ultimate non‐linear response of masonry walls subjected to horizontal forces. The results show how the proposed model, including P‐Delta effects, accurately predicts the non‐linear rocking response of masonry walls until the attainment of the unstable configuration.

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Damaging Behavior of Masonry Arch Bridges: Analysis of ‘Ponte delle Torri’ in Spoleto, Italy

Cited by 10 publications

References 29 publications

Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of a Masonry Arch Bridge Accounting for Damage Evolution

Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of a Masonry Arch Bridge Accounting for Damage Evolution

Applications of Stratigraphic Analysis to Enhance the Inspection and Structural Characterization of Historic Bridges

A discrete‐element approach accounting for P‐Delta effects

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