It's good to feel my brain coming back after two or more years on strike.
I have been struggling with the issues of distribution in arches for some years. It is clear that the "distribution through the fill" models currently used are just plain wrong. Results from tests done years ago show that there is precious little distribution at working load (which is what we really care about.
The arch, though, is capable of massive distribution, it's just a question of how to model it. If we assume that an arches distributes concentrated thrust in the same way as a wall would, The effect of live load in a strip declines as it flows towards the abutment (Except, of course, when thrust from another load starts to distriibute into the strip).
At last, I have found a way. The results so far are very encouraging. I think it opens a path into sensible results for skew bridges. I'll put more here when I get another chance.
Recent Comments