ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the context of the project and discusses the design and construction of a testing rig. Arches and vaults are the basic structural masonry elements used to span horizontal spaces. Identify, classify and measure the factors affecting variability in the behaviour of the arches under dynamic loading. The arches illustrating the present paper are not meant to represent existing structures. Real arches - in buildings or bridges - carry loads. Limit analysis is an effective tool to study masonry arches. A wooden centring is used to facilitate the construction of the arch. Starting from the seminal work of Housner, many authors studied analytically the behaviour of simple block structures. The possibility to vary frequency between 1 Hz and 10 Hz and to impose accelerations of 1 g is actually sufficient to cover the spectrum of behaviour of the scale models: from absence of visible reaction to the various collapse modes.
