Structural Design Of Arch Profile And Depth — A Computer-Aided Study

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative study of some of the best known and widely used arch profiles, in an endeavour to investigating their structural performance and to determining optimum arch form and depth. Arch profiles herein studied comprise three categories, namely: 1) Profiles each with one center on axis of symmetry, 2) Profiles with two centres symmetrically disposed on arch base, 3) Profiles with three centres, two of which are located at the extrados points of base while the third common center is positioned on the axis of symmetry. For all these profiles, both bending moment and normal force distributions are obtained using the stiffness matrix method, the arch being subdivided into twenty elements. Computations were run on computer. This study shows that while the lancet and segmental arch types rank best among the investigated arch profiles, the horseshoe profile proved to possess the least favourable form in as -far as developing stresses are concerned.