CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Newcastle University E-Prints Sarhosis V, Oliveira DV, Lemos JV, Lourenço PB. The effect of skew angle on the mechanical behaviour of masonry arches. Mechanics Research Communications 2014, 61, 53-59. Copyright: © 2014. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license DOI link to article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mechrescom.2014.07.008 Date deposited: 17/02/2016 Embargo release date: 04 August 2015 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence Newcastle University ePrints - eprint.ncl.ac.uk The effect of skew angle on the mechanical behaviour of masonry arches V. Sarhosis*, D.V. Oliveira+, J.V. Lemos#. P.B. Lourenco+ * School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK,
[email protected] + ◊ISISE, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, Portugal,
[email protected],
[email protected] # National Laboratory of Civil Engineering, Lisbon, Portugal,
[email protected] ABSTRACT This paper presents the development of a three dimensional computational model, based on the Discrete Element Method (DEM), which was used to investigate the effect of the angle of skew on the load carrying capacity of twenty-eight different in geometry single span stone masonry arches. Each stone of the arch was represented as a distinct block. Mortar joints were modelled as zero thickness interfaces which can open and close depending on the magnitude and direction of the stresses applied to them. The variables investigated were the arch span, the span : rise ratio and the skew angle.