Dynamic Behavior of Masonry Arch Bridge under High-Speed Train Loading: Veresk Bridge Case Study

Abstract

This paper studies the dynamic behavior of one of the oldest masonry arch bridges of the Iranian railway network, the Veresk bridge, located in the Mazandaran province of Iran. To do so, the writers developed an advanced three-dimensional (3D) finite-element model that incorporates all of the geometric complexities of the bridge. The obtained results show a very good agreement between the field test data and the 3D model. Due to the high computational costs associated with running the 3D model, a simplified two-dimensional (2D) model of the bridge was developed using Timoshenko beam elements and calibrated with the field test data and the 3D model. The results show that the 2D model has sufficient accuracy in capturing the dynamic behavior of the bridge. Therefore, an extensive parametric study is performed for inspecting the dynamic behavior of the bridge under the train speeds ranging from 25 to 35 km/h. It is observed that the serviceability and performance of the Veresk masonry arch bridge is not acceptable for speeds greater than 1 km/h, and the bridge experiences resonance when the train passes with the speed close to 2 km/h.