Three Hinge Arch

After the experiment 3, I had makes some searching on internet, an arch is a beam that is bent
in the load plane to a very large radius relative to the depth of the section. Loads can cause
bending and direct compressive stresses. Although all loads are vertical, the response has a
horizontal component. Deflection usually has a horizontal component and a vertical
component. On the support, the horizontal components of the response must be resisted. For
this purpose, tie rods, abutments or supports can be used. However, for a series of arches, the
response of the internal arch can be used to offset the response of adjacent arches.

Construct a three-hinged arch by inserting a hinge at each bracket and internal point (usually
a crown or high point) (Figure 4.1). This construction is statically determined.

There are four unknowns-two horizontal and two vertical components of the response-but
there are four equations based on the law of equilibrium.

1. The sum of the horizontal forces acting on the arch must be zero. This relates the
horizontal components of the reactions:
HL = HR = H
2. The sum of the moments about the left support must be zero. For the arch in Fig.
4.1, this determines the vertical component of the reaction at the right support:
VR = Pk

where P load at distance kL from left support

L = span
3. The sum of the moments about the right support must be zero. This gives the
vertical component of the reaction at the left support:
VL = P(1 -k)
4. The bending moment at the crown hinge must be zero. (The sum of the moments
about the crown hinge also is zero but does not provide an independent equation
for determination of the reactions.) For the right half of the arch in Fig. 4.1, Hh -
VRb = 0, from which
Therefore, for this part of the arch, the line of influence of H is a straight line ranging from
zero per unit load on the brace to the maximum ab / Lh of the unit load at C.

The fact that the bending moment at the crown hinge is zero can also be used to determine
graphically the reaction force of the three-hinged arch. This requires that the line of action of
the reaction RR at the right support passes through C. This line intersects the line of action of
load P at X (Figure 4.1). Since P and the two reactions are in equilibrium, the line of action of
the reaction RL on the left support must also cross X. As shown in Figure 4.1b, the line of
action containing P and the reaction can be taken from.

For additional concentrated loads, the results can be superimposed to obtain the final
horizontal and vertical response. Since three hinged arches were identified, the same four
balance equations could be applied and the corresponding response determined for any other
loading conditions. It should also be noted that what is important is not the shape of the arch,
but the position of the internal hinge relative to the supporting hinge.

Once the response has been determined, the stress of any part of the arch can be found by
applying the law of equilibrium (clause 4.4).

References

Civil Engineer, Viewed 27 Dec 2019.

https://www.civilengineeringx.com/structural-analysis/structural-steel/three-hinged-arches/