Tests and Nonlinear Analyses of Small-Scale Stressed-Arch Frames

Abstract

The paper describes a test program performed at the University of Sydney on small-scale (15.25 m span and 4.62 m high) complete single stressed-arch frames subjected to simulated gravity (vertical) loading. The analytical techniques employed in, and the results of, finite-element nonlinear analyses of the frame behavior are also reported. The distinguishing feature of stressed-arch frames compared to conventional steel truss frames is that the arches are erected using a posttensioning process, rather than through the traditional techniques involving the use of cranes and scaffolding. As a result of the posttensioning erection process, the top chord becomes curved and often strained into the plastic range. The purpose of the tests on small-scale frames and the subsequent theoretical analyses was to determine the behavior and strength of the highly curved and yielded top chord in complete frames, as opposed to the isolated subassemblages of stressed-arch frames investigated in previous studies.