Experimental and Numerical Study of Reinforcement Strains in RC Ties

Abstract

The importance of interaction between concrete and reinforcement for reinforced concrete (RC) mechanics is a known issue, yet its complexity enforces one to perform in-depth investigations at the microscopic level. In this paper, short RC ties with lengths less than transfer length of bond stresses were chosen to investigate contact zones between concrete and reinforcement. A three-dimensional finite element approach (Model-3D) with simplified geometry of ribs (rib-scale model) is modelled. Its effectiveness is checked against the results yielded by a number of double pull-out tests on RC prisms, where the strain distribution of the bars was measured with strain gauges. As it turns out, the considered model shows a good correlation with experimental data at different loading levels, and the most important factor describing the effectiveness is the geometry of ribs.