Coupled thermo-mechanical analysis of Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge in Prague, founded in 1357, is one of the most prominent historical structures in Europe. It interconnects two Prague districts, the Lesser Town and the Old Town, detached by the Vltava River. In the past, the bridge underwent a variety of repairs and retrofits. Within the framework of the moderate repair carried into effect in 2007 - 2010, a measuring system was installed in the bridge and the temperature and moisture content at selected gauge points have been continuously monitored for a period of two years. This paper presents non-linear coupled thermo-mechanical analysis utilizing a parallel version of the SIFEL computer code. The analysis is based on a simple heat transfer model and a 3D orthotropic constitutive damage model, where the main indicator of crack localization is the damage parameter. The cogency of heat transfer model, the first part of the analysis, is validated against experimentally obtained temperature fields.