Effect of damage and repair on the dynamic properties of Persian brick masonry arches

Abstract

In this paper, the dynamic properties of three types of Persian brick masonry arches, semi-circular, ordinary pointed and ordinary four-centred have been studied. These arches were constructed with clay brick, and gypsum mortar in the laboratory and experimental tests were conducted. First, the mechanical properties of the used materials were determined. Then, operational modal analysis was used to measure the dynamic properties of the constructed arches. Afterwards, a horizontal displacement was applied to the arch support to create a crack. The arches were repaired then, and dynamic identification was performed for each case. Several damage detection methods were used to evaluate their ability to detect damage in brick masonry arches. Finite element model updating was used to track changes in the material properties of arches and to match numerical results with dynamic laboratory results. The study showed that damage has a significant effect on the dynamic properties of arches. Repairing the damage partially restores the dynamic parameters to the undamaged condition, but it cannot completely transform the arch into an arch without damage. Damage detection methods were able to identify the occurrence of damage to the arches, but there are limitations in the use of these methods. Diagrams were generated to estimate the static moduli of brick and of gypsum mortar from the dynamic modulus of elasticity of the assemblage of brick and gypsum mortar. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.