Masonry arch bridges form an integral part of our rail infrastructure network and their safety is important for the functioning society. Although, there have been several studies to understand in-service condition masonry bridges, these are mainly focusing on static analyses. However, it well known that moving vehicles exert a dynamic force as they cross them. This paper investigates shakedown ...

Elastic systems with frictional interfaces subjected to periodic loading are sometimes predicted to ‘shake down’ in the sense that frictional slip ceases after the first few loading cycles. The similarities in behaviour between such systems and monolithic bodies with elastic–plastic constitutive behaviour have prompted various authors to speculate that Melan’s theorem might apply to them – i.e....