The response of masonry parapets to accidental vehicle impact

Bridge owners in the UK are coming under increasing pressure to ensure that parapets on existing bridges, including masonry parapets, satisfy specified containment requirements. Recent research work has concentrated on determining the dynamic behaviour of walls constructed on planar surfaces. This paper describes elements of this work. A three degree-of-freedom analytical model developed previously for weakly cemented walls is modified to allow strongly bonded walls to be analysed. Additionally, a three-dimensional explicit finite element code is used to perform analyses in which the constituent masonry units in the walls are modelled discretely, allowing both bonded and unbonded block walls to be analysed. Analytical predictions are compared with test results in two case studies. It is found that reasonable correlation with experimental results can be obtained provided the mechanical properties of the walls are known. The predicted influence on wall behaviour of the more complex geometrical boundary conditions associated with arch bridges is then briefly investigated.

• INTRODUCTION

• SIMPLIFIED THREE D. O. F. ANALYTICAL MODEL

• CASE STUDY 1. LABORATORY TESTS

• CASE STUDY 2. VEHICLE TESTS

• BEHAVIOUR OF SPANDREL WALLS

• DISCUSSION

• CONCLUSIONS

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• REFERENCES