Finite element analysis of high strength reinforced concrete beams

Abstract

Development of high strength concrete as a new ecological construction material to sustain the gradually expanding construction industry has arisen. This paper presents nonlinear finite element analysis of three-dimensional high strength reinforced concrete beams using ABAQUS. The uniaxial compressive strength for the beam models were taken from the existing experimatal data on high strength concrete cubes. Eurocode 2 was also used to establish material parameters for the constitutive models for concrete and reinforcing bars. In this study, two 150mm x 200mm x 1200mm simply supported rectangular concrete beam models subjected to loads at different shear span to effective depth ratios (a/d = 1.0 and 2.0) were analysed. Numerical results were validated with the existing experimental data specifically on the load-deflection responses and von mises stresses. It was found that the finite element results show greater than 70% agreement with the experimental results.