A numerical procedure for failure mode detection of masonry arches reinforced with fiber reinforced polymeric materials

In this paper a mechanical model of masonry arches strengthened with fibrereinforced composite materials and the relevant numerical procedure for the analysis are proposed. The arch is modelled by using an assemblage of rigid blocks that are connected together and, also to the supporting structures, by mortar joints. The presence of the reinforcement, usually a sheet placed at the intrados or the extrados, prevents the occurrence of cracks that could activate possible collapse mechanisms, due to tensile failure of the mortar joints. Therefore, in a reinforced arch failure generally occurs in a different way from the URM arch. The numerical procedure proposed checks, as a function of an external incremental load, the inner stress state in the arch, in the reinforcement and in the adhesive layer. In so doing, it then provides a prediction of failure modes. Results obtained from experimental tests, carried out on four in-scale models performed in a laboratory, have been compared with those provided by the numerical procedure, implemented in ArchiVAULT, a software developed by the author. In this regard, the numerical procedure is an extension of previous works. Although additional experimental investigations are necessary, these former results confirm that the proposed numerical procedure is promising.