Stress-failure analysis of masonry structures under eathquake loading

During the structural simulation of historical structures and monuments made of masonry, high demands for reliable model formulation, often, cannot be satisfied by the use of two-dimensional finite elements. Especially in the case of earthquake loading vertically to the plane of the structure, the use of threedimensional solid finite elements is strongly recommended in order to obtain accurate results. In this paper, a methodology for the stress computation and failure evaluation of masonry structures, using this type of finite elements, is presented. Given the stress analysis results, the three-dimensional stress state is transformed into an equivalent biaxial and failure analysis is performed implementing failure criteria especially adapted to masonry structures. Demonstration of the methodology is performed on a case study, a masonry arch bridge. The efficiency of the methodology is discussed and conclusions are derived.