Identification of internal damages in reinforced concrete slabs using probability density field of acoustic emission events

To assess the structural capacity of reinforced concrete structures, identifying the internal cracks is important. Acoustic emission (AE) is promising to estimate the location of internal cracks. However, the localization is influenced by many factors like arrival time picking error, presence of crack, etc., resulting in localization error. The...

A two-phased modelling approach for corrosion-induced concrete cracking and bond deterioration in reinforced concrete

Bond deterioration is one of the major consequences of reinforcement corrosion in reinforced concrete (RC) structures. In this paper, a two-phased numerical modelling approach is presented that aims to determine the constitutive behaviour (bond–slip) at the reinforcement-concrete interface at a certain corrosion level. The novelty of the...

Quantification of the resistance modeling uncertainty of 19 alternative 2D nonlinear finite element approaches benchmarked against 101 experiments on reinforced concrete beams

Nineteen 2D nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA) solution strategies were benchmarked against a wide variety of 101 experiments on reinforced concrete beams failing in bending, flexural shear, or shear compression. The relatively high number of solution strategies was motivated by the conviction that choices for the constitutive models,...

Toward identifying the ASR-induced stresses from displacement measurements and crack observations—Demonstration on a beam bridge in Norway

Alkali–silica reaction (ASR) in concrete causes expansion and degradation of the material, which might give adverse structural consequences. From the structural engineer point view, the greatest concern is if ASR leads to loss of structural integrity. Two natural questions arise when assessing existing concrete structures affected by ASR: (1)...

Optimization-based strut-and-tie model generation for reinforced concrete structures under multiple load conditions

Strut-and-Tie modelling (STM) has been widely applied to design D-regions of reinforced concrete structures. For economic and environmental reasons there is a need for optimized Strut-and-Tie models. How to optimize Strut-and-Tie models considering multiple load combinations has not been investigated extensively in the literature. In order to...

Load effects in reinforced concrete beam bridges affected by alkali–silica reaction—Constitutive modelling including expansion, cracking, creep and crushing

Material modelling, from the micro to the macro level, of concrete affected by alkali–silica reaction (ASR) has been devoted a lot of research. However, the application of the material models in structural analyses of reinforced concrete (RC) structures, showing the structural implications/consequences of ASR, has got little attention in the...

Durability-based design: the European perspective

In Europe, design for the durability of new reinforced concrete structures is currently based on a prescriptive approach. The design, execution (construction) and planned maintenance of a concrete structure have to lead to the intended level of safety and serviceability throughout its entire service life. This requires numeric models based on...

Automated optimization-based generation and quantitative evaluation of Strut-and-Tie models

Strut-and-Tie modelling (STM) is a well-known approach to design D-regions in reinforced concrete structures. Because the STM method is based on lower-bound analysis, finding a suitable truss-analogy model is the most important aspect to guarantee good structural and economic performance of a resulting design. Continuum topology optimization ...

Analytical calculation model for predicting cracking behavior of reinforced concrete ties

This paper formulates an analytical calculation model for predicting the cracking behavior of reinforced concrete ties to provide more consistent crack width calculation methods for large-scale concrete structures in which large bar diameters and covers are used. The calculation model was derived based on the physical behavior of reinforced...

Improvements of a Nonlinear Analysis Guideline for the Re-examination of Existing Urban Concrete Structures

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment is concerned with the safety of existing infrastructure and expected re-analysis of a large number of bridges and viaducts. Nonlinear finite element analysis can provide a tool to assess safety; a more realistic estimation of the existing safety can be obtained. <br/>Dutch Guidelines,...

Non-Linear Finite Element Analyses of Existing Reinforced Concrete Bridge Beams

Three years ago, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment initiated a project to re-evaluate the carrying capacity of existing bridges and viaducts (e.g. reinforced and pre-stressed concrete beams and slabs). Due to the increase of traffic and the reallocation of emergency lanes to traffic lanes, the safety verification of some...

Nonlinear finite element analysis of reinforced concrete slabs: Comparison of safety formats

According to the new fib Model Code 2010 the design shear resistance of a reinforced concrete (RC) structure can be evaluated through analytical and numerical calculation methods that fall into four different levels of approximations; the complexity and the accuracy of the calculated shear resistance increases with increasing the level of...