• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.43-54
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• 1992

For shallow arches with large dynamic loading, linear analysis is no longer considered as practical and accurate. In this study, a method is presented for the dynamic analysis of shallow arches in which geometric nonlinearity must be considered. A program is developed for the analysis of the nonlinear dynamic behavior and for evaluation of critical buckling loads of shallow arches. Geometric nonlinearity is modeled using Lagrangian description of the motion. The finite element analysis procedure is used to solve the dynamic equation of motion and Newmark method is adopted in the approximation of time integration. A shallow arch subject to radial step loads is analyzed. The results are compared with those from other researches to verify the developed program. The behavior of arches is analyzed using the non-dimensional time, load, and shape parameters. It is shown that geometric nonlinearity should be considered in the analysis of shallow arches and probability of buckling failure is getting higher as arches are getting shallower. It is confirmed that arches with the same shape parameter have the same deflection ratio at the same time parameter when arches are loaded with the same parametric load. In addition, it is proved that buckling of arches with the same shape parameter occurs at the same load parameter. Circular arches, which are under a single or uniform normal load, are analyzed for comparison. A parabolic arch with radial step load is also analyzed. It is verified that the developed program is applicable for those problems.