The stability of arches in the Lagrangian approach (Q1061542)

This article concerns the bridge arch whose axis is the funicular curve of its own weight. All the hypotheses can be quite general, the structures may even be unsymmetrical, the ends may have an angular flexibility; the loads may be of any kind and the moment of inertia may vary according to a generic law. The arch is reduced to a set of rigid bars and elastic springs, as is often the case when dealing with straight bars. The advantage of this procedure is that it converges from below, and it can operate along with finite or similar elements. Comparisons with some of the results of the literature were carried out. There are some differences between our results and those concerning various steep arches, which is also explained.