Response of Plain and Reinforced Concrete Elements to Various Mechanical Loads

Abstract

Reinforced concrete (RC) is being used for a wide range of structural applications. In order to design safe and economical RC structural elements it is necessary to analyse these elements accounting for the realistic phenomenon (cracking and crushing of concrete, strain-softening in plain concrete, aggregate interlock, dowel action, tension stiffening in RC, bond-slip, yielding of steel, etc.) under applied loading to capture the behaviour over the entire loading path. In this study, the improvisation needed in the form of a decrease in elastic modulus and increase in Poisson’s ratio in the simulation of plain concrete under biaxial and triaxial loading are discussed in a finite element implementation framework. Thereafter, an extension to RC element applications under various loadings is discussed. Comparisons of modelling simulations with corresponding experimental results are discussed. This study covers the range of problems starting from uniaxial compression in plain concrete to multiaxial loading in plain and reinforced concrete capturing the load- deformation behaviour completely. Hence, considering various mechanical loads in the analysis of plain and reinforced concrete provides the tool to understand the behaviour of plain and reinforced concrete elements. The simulations shows the well match with the corresponding experimental results.