Nonlinear finite element analysis of steel fiber-reinforced concrete coupling beams

Abstract

This paper describes a nonlinear finite element analysis of steel Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (FRC) coupling beams. In this study, to reduce and simplify the reinforcement details in the coupling beams, Steel Fiber-Reinforced Concretes (SFRCs) were used. The analysis procedure was performed to assess the validity of modeling techniques for simulating the cyclic behavior of the FRC coupling beams. The coupling beam specimens were modeled using nonlinear, two-dimensional plane stress analysis with DIANA. In constitutive model, Thorenfeldt model in compression and Hordijk model in tension were used for concrete model, and the SFRC was modeled with Fiber-Reinforced Concrete model. A cyclic analysis was performed on the specimens to determine whether the curves could be produced and to verify whether the correct failure modes and sequence of damage was seen in the simulation. The analytical results showed that improvements in the finite element model could lead to improvements in the simulation results.