The examination of behaviour of vertical loaded brick masonry arch having tie rods

For centuries, arch structures have been used to span large openings. In Anatolia, wood or iron tie rods have been used in the arches of historical buildings such as mosques, madrases, houses and khans which are especially from the Ottoman period. These tie rods are of great importance for the protection of the stability of arches under vertical load. In this study, tie rods are examined in terms of the influence on the general structural behavior, a total of six experimental models were tested under vertical load; one model with no tie rod and five models with different tie rods. The tested models were also evaluated by using the Finite Element Method. Consequently, the experimental results are presented in comparison with these numerical results and comments on the tie rods used on the arches are discussed based the obtained results. Furthermore, recommendations are offered to resolve the problems of tie rod applications encountered in restoration works. Keywords: Tie-rod effects, Masonry arches, Finite element analysis, Lusas software, Drucker-prager criterion.