Finite element modeling of large deformation response of reinforced concrete beams

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d10017720

In a previous study, a 3/8 scaled physical model of a continuous two-span reinforced concrete (RC) beam was constructed and tested. The RC beam was subjected to a downward vertical displacement. In this study a detailed three dimensional finite element model of the RC beam is developed. Unlike a previous analytical study, the contribution of bond to the response of the beam is considered here by deploying interface elements between longitudinal reinforcement elements and concrete elements of the finite element model. Nonlinear material behavior such as concrete cracking and crushing and steel reinforcement yielding are also modeled. A geometrically nonlinear incremental static analysis using the computer program DIANA 9.2 is carried out. The model is analyzed under the applied deformations at the centerline. Analysis results include element forces, stresses and strains of the concrete and steel reinforcement and bond stresses and slippage along the beam. Stress-strain relationships of steel reinforcement and beam end rotations are compared with the corresponding experimental results. Overall, the analytical and experimental results are in good agreement.