Experimental and theoretical analysis of eccentrically loaded brickwork

The standard assessment procedures for masonry arches assume the compressive strength of masonry as a deterministic variable while it is well known that masonry mechanical parameters suffer from large scattering. In this paper, the load carrying capacity of masonry arches is addressed by means of Kinematic Limit Analysis (Mechanism Method) assuming the material compressive strength as a random variable. The failure probability of all the admissible mechanisms is estimated and the global collapse probability is conservatively provided by the Cornell approximation. The application of the procedure to a single span arch bridge shows that for arch-type structures it can provide a filter to the compressive strength randomness by reducing the data scattering. Discussion is provided on the safety factors defined by masonry codes and their effect on the safety assessment of masonry arches