Determining the ultimate load of historic masonry arches by using eccentricity charts / Bestimmung der Traglast von historischen gemauerten Gewölben des Hochbaus unter Anwendung der Exzentrizitätsdiagramme

The eccentricity charts presented in this paper have been developed on the basis of experimental investigations in order to enable a realistic calculation method of the ultimate load of flat brickwork vaulted floors with standard structural software. The vault is modelled as a three-hinged arch with eccentric hinges in order to thus represent the non-linear behaviour of the load-bearing structure. Furthermore the hinge configuration, which is adapted with the eccentricity charts, takes into account the degree of plastification of historic masonry, existing load-induced damage, any displacement of the abutments and the location of the thrust line.
Two examples are described to explain the applicability of this method, and the results are compared with results from other modelling approaches. This makes clear that the eccentricity charts enable realistic structural analysis of flat brickwork vaults with various geometries and with highly efficient use of time.