Abstract
This study aims to investigate the effect of partially distributed loads on the static behavior of parabolic arches by using the elastic-plastic finite element model. For this purpose, the vertical, the radial, and the anti-symmetric load cases are considered, and the ratio of loading range and arch span is increased from 20% to 100%. Also, the elastic-visco-plastic analysis has been carried out to estimate the elapse time to reach the stable state of arches when the ultimate load obtained by the finite element analysis is applied. It is noted that the ultimate load carrying capacities of parabolic arches are 6.929 tf/$m^2$ for the radial load case, and 8.057 tf/$m^2$ for the vertical load case. On the other hand, the ultimate load is drastically reduced as 2.659 tf/$m^2$ for the anti-symmetric load case. It is also shown that the maximum ultimate load occurs at the full ranging distributed load, however, the minimum ultimate loads of the radial and vortical load cases are obtained by 2.336 tf/$m^2$, 2.256 tf/$m^2$, respectively, when the partially distributed load is applied at the 40% range of full arch span.