EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH OF WOODENARCHES

This paper presents the findings of the pilot studies of two-hinged wooden arches. The prototype models of wooden arches with the span of 6m and the rise of 1m were designed. The models had a rectangular cross-section of 180x40mm and
a T-section of 180x40mm with a plywood plate with the thickness of 6 mm and the width of 500mm. The main objective of the T-section was to ensure the stability of the arch. Each arch was composed of six segments – boards joined by clamping plates. The bowstring truss including two inclined tie bars enables carrying asymmetric loads and provides in-plane stability of the arch. A methodology for laboratory testing of the prototype models of wooden arches subjected to different types of loads was developed. Two prototypes of wooden arches were tested with rectangular cross-sections and two T-section ones subjected to the loading across the span, and two prototypes subjected to the half-span loading. In total, eight arches were tested. Deflections of arches, cross-section deformations and arch thrust force were recorded. The arches were tested until failure. The results of testing revealed insufficient stability of the arches with rectangular cross-section in the horizontal plane. For the arches with T-section the whole arch rib was damaged, the in-plane stability was ensured by the T-section.  The collapsing force of the T-section arch was about 1.3times greater than the collapsing force of the rectangular section arches.

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