Numerical Modelling of Tensile Membrane Action in Reinforced Concrete Beams
Publicerad
Författare
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Conventional design practices for reinforced concrete (RC) beams primarily focus on
ensuring adequate flexural capacity. However, the ultimate load-carrying capacity and
deformation limits of these beams can be significantly enhanced through the
development of membrane actions if sufficient lateral restraints are provided.
Membrane actions include two distinct mechanisms: compressive membrane action
(CMA) and tensile membrane action (TMA) or catenary action.
CMA is activated sequentially after the flexural action, as deformations continue to
increase. In this stage, the beam's lateral expansion is restrained, inducing
compressive membrane forces that enhance the beam's load-bearing capacity. As the
RC beams undergo large deformations, the compressive forces shift to tensile forces.
At this certain point, TMA is activated, and the reinforcement bars become the loadcarrying
mechanism for the RC beams.
This thesis investigates the numerical modelling of TMA in RC beams subjected to
increasing load at the middle joint of the beam under a static loading condition. An
extensive literature review and analysis of previous experimental works were studied
to gain insights into TMA. One of the prior experiments was selected to verify the
results obtained from the Finite Element program ABAQUS and ensure its capability
to accurately capture the TMA behaviour.
In ABAQUS, beam and truss elements were used to model the concrete and
reinforcing steel, respectively. Full interaction between concrete and reinforcement
bars was assumed. Concrete damaged plasticity model was applied for the concrete,
on the other hand, plasticity model was applied for the reinforcing steel.
The results obtained from ABAQUS were compared with the reference experiment
before performing a parametric study to explore various factors that could influence
the development and behaviour of TMA, including horizontal stiffness, span-depth
ratio, and other relevant parameters.
In general, the numerical models demonstrated good agreement with the reference
experiment in terms of the load-midspan deflection relationship. Once the numerical
models were validated, parametric studies were conducted.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
reinforced concrete, compressive membrane action, tensile membrane action, catenary action, static loading condition, ABAQUS, concrete damage plasticity