Buckling Analysis of Arched Structures Using Finite Element Analysis

The collapse of Hartford Civic Center Coliseum in 1978 and Minneapolis Metrodome arena roof are two incidents that demonstrate the importance of stability considerations in design and construction of arched structural systems. These type of structures usually host various social events and sports games where frequently thousands of spectators attend. design flaws, construction errors, and/or overloading may bring about structural failure of these structures with catastrophic consequences. Developing a reliable structural model to capture salient characteristics of arched structures is a challenging task facing forensic engineers investigating collapse of such structures. In this paper, buckling behavior of shallow and deep arches are studied and the associated failure modes are predicted using non-linear Finite Element Analysis (FEA). FEA results are compared to those obtained from theoretical methods of analysis for shallow arches using energy methods and for high arches through solution of classical differential equations conditions. This paper indicates that the forensic engineer should be competent in understanding and assessing possible buckling behavior of arched structures. In design projects with possible catastrophic buckling collapse, professional engineers should be aware of various buckling analyses that may need to be further examined to ensure the design adequacy of new or non-traditional designs against possible buckling failure.