GEOMECHANICS AND ENGINEERING, cilt.18, sa.2, ss.141-151, 2019 (SCI-Expanded)
In this paper, it is aimed to present a detail investigation about the comparison of static and dynamic behavior of historical masonry arch bridges considering different arch curvature. Godemi historical masonry two-span arch bridge which is located in Kulp town, Diyarbakir, Turkey is selected as a numerical application. The bridge takes part in bowless bridge group and built in large measures than the others. The restoration projects were approved and rehabilitation studies have still continued. Finite element model of the bridge is constituted with special software to determine the static and dynamic behavior. To demonstrate the arch curvature effect, the finite element model are reconstructed considering different arch curvature between 2.86 m-3.76 m for first arch and 2.64 m-3.54 m for second arch with the increment of 0.10 m, respectively. Dead and live vehicle loads are taken into account during static analyses. 1999 Kocaeli earthquake ground motion record is considered for time history analyses. The maximum displacements, principal stresses and elastic strains are compared with each other using contour diagrams. It is seen that the arch curvature has more influence on the structural response of historical masonry arch bridges. At the end of the study, it is seen that with the increasing of the arch heights, the maximum displacements, minimum principal stresses and minimum elastic strains have a decreasing trend in all analyses, in addition maximum principal stresses and maximum elastic strains have unchanging trend up to optimum geometry.