The masonry buttressed arch on spreading support

This paper analyses the ultimate states of a circular masonry arch supported on rectangular slender abutments when subjected to an imposed settlement of one support in addition to self-weight, using the principle of virtual work and thrust line analysis. Depending on the angle of settlement and the slenderness of the arch and the abutments, the study identifies the main hinging failure mechanisms where the hinge configurations depend mainly on the angle of the settlement and the slenderness of the arch. In the hypothesis where only radial ruptures are possible, extensive analysis shows the different possible mechanisms on masonry buttressed arches with different type of support settlements. In addition, the analyses show that the masonry buttressed arch is more vulnerable to horizontal displacement than inclined or vertical displacement