Finite hinge stiffness and its effect on the capacity of a dry-stack masonry arch subjected to hinge control

With each new earthquake the damages to vaulted masonry and their vulnerability are continuously observed. Understanding the behaviour of these systems continues to increase, and reinforcement strategies and techniques are continually advancing. The application of reinforcement is often done such that the failure of the system is transformed directly from one of stability to strength. This direct transformation overlooks the intermittent stages that exist, and thus provides a partial picture of the system. An experimental campaign was carried out to test the capacity of a dry-stack masonry arch subjected to hinge control and failed through a tilting test. From the experimentation, it was observed that controlling the hinge locations can increase the resistance of the arch while also providing a defined failure mechanism, but the capacity of the system was greatly reduced when compared to numerical results. Investigation into the capacity reduction revealed stable mechanical deformations resulting from a non-rigid reinforced base joint. This work focuses on the relationship between capacity and stable deformations to calculate a rotational stiffness value for the non-rigid reinforced base joint.