Fracture Mechanics of Concrete Structures

Proceedings FRAMCOS-3
AEDIFICATIO Publishers, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany

LOAD DEFLECTION DIAGRAM OF OVER-REINFORCED

CONCRETE BEAMS

A. Bascoul
Laboratoire Materiaux et Durabilite des Constructions
M. Duprat, M. Pinglot
Laboratoire d'Etudes Thermiques et Mecaniques
INSA - Genie Civil, Complexe scientifique de Rangueil
31077 Toulouse Cedex 4 - FRANCE

Abstract
The load - deflection behaviour of reinforced concrete beams is calculated
using a specifically designed Finite Element method. The beams are
discretized into multi - layered short elements. The Moment - Curvature
diagram of each element is calculated applying the assumptions that plane
sections remain plane and that the strain in the reinforcement is the same
as that in the surrounding concrete. Any stress - strain diagram can be
used for the compressed concrete and for steel. It may be defined either
according to experimental curves or using analytical laws.
The calculation method consists of defining successive equilibrium
states, increasing step by step the maximum concrete strain. This process
allows us to get the entire moment - curvature diagram, including the
softening branch. Up to now, the effects of shear are not taken into
account. The global deformations such as rotations and deflections are
deduced from a numerical integration of curvatures.
Key words: Numerical simulation, Navier's hypothesis, moment -
curvature relationship, integration of curvature.

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1 Introduction

This contribution to the Round Robin analysis on modelling of Over-

Reinforced Concrete Beams consists of presenting a numerical method of
predicting the behaviour of any reinforced concrete beam in a first section
and of giving the results of its application in a second section.
The experimental data concerning the behaviour laws of the materials are
shared by all the contributors so as it is not necessary to present them
agam.

2 Numerical method

Beams are composed of n multi - layer elements, (Fig. la). The

equilibrium of each element is calculated assuming that Navier's
hypothesis apply.

2.1 Equilibrium and moment - curvature diagram for one element

The elements are composed of m layers (50 layers in this application).
Each one is considered to be subjected to uniaxial states of stress and
strain, (Fig. I b ). For a given value of the curvature, the compressive
concrete strain Ee of the upper layer is calculated by iteration in such a
way that the axial resulting force Nnt tends toward zero CINintl < 10 daN).
Nnt is calculated through relation (1):

m m,
Nint = L A ci ·CJc ( Ei) + L A si ·CJs ( Ei) (1)
1 1
Ei : strain of the layer i,
Ad: section of the concrete layer i,

CT' c ( E i) : stress of the concrete layer i, according to the strain - stress

relationship of concrete,
Asi: section of the steel layer i,
as (£i) : stress of the steel layer I, according to the strain - stress
relationship of steel.

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 p p

1 il

.. ...
~. ~ ~ ';
Fig. la
i~t..l

r--.....-~ ~ ~~--cr-s-(E-i)_~_+--+-----------~-+-----N-s~
section strain I streskes

Fig. lb "'

i-i-

... '
I
ii"'"'
~ - u 1
I r
ii
II ...
r

Fig. le

x x

Fig. ld

Fig.Id

Fig.1. Principle of the numerical method

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Then the bending moment can be deduced from relation (2):
m m,
Mint= LAci.0-c(Ei).(YG -yi)+ LAsi·CYs(Ei).(YG -di) (2)
i=l 1
Ya: distance of the upper concrete fibre to the neutral axis,
Yi : distance of the concrete layer i to the neutral axis,
di : distance of the steel layer i to the upper fibre.

Finally, the moment - curvature diagram of an element j is calculated by

incrementing step by step the curvature.!., (Fig. le).
r
The tension stiffening effect is taken into account by modifying the
curvature in relation to CEB-FIP 1990 recommendations.

2.2 Curvature diagram of the beam

The loading of the beam is controlled by the curvature of the central
element. The moment curvature diagram of this element is calculated as
described above. For a given step I, the curvature (~)
determines the
/
bending moment in the central element. Thus, both the corresponding
load P1 and the moment diagram of the beam can be calculated (Fig. ld).
Using the .moment - curvature diagram of each element, the curvature
diagram of the beam can be drawn (Fig. le). However, beyond the peak
load, some elements may be subjected to decreasing curvature. In this
case, it is assumed that the moment - curvature relationship is linear down
to zero.

2.3 Load - deflection diagram

Rotations and deflections are obtained by numerical integration of the
well known Bresse formulae:

eK =80 + t[:J.Axj
. J I
(3)

8K = ()OxK + f [_!_J .&j.(xK -x) (4)

j=I rj I

rotation of the element K,

() K :

8K : deflection of the element K,

&.i : length of the elementj,

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(
rl J : curvature of the element j at a given load level l .
.I I

The final position of the beam is obtained by a dichotomic

approximation of the rotation 80 which induces a deflection 8 close to 0

zero Cl8n I< 5.10- 2

mm ).

3 Application

3.1 Modelling of the beams

1655 1655

15 elements

I. J
r ·i

3312 576 3312

.
-
~ J
20 elements 9 elements 20 elements l
Fig.2b. Large beam
3.2 Results
Results are presented on one page for one type of beam and concrete with
both boundary conditions of concrete compression tests ( low fiction -
high friction - HF) :
- load - deflection diagrams (load =P, according to Fig. 1),
- variations of the strains at the upper fibre and at the lower fibre.
In addition, load - support rotation diagrams are given in the four last
figures.

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 140-r-~~---~~~~~~~~~~~~

120
z 100 -
~
I.-'

"'O
80 -------- g F
---

~ 60
0
~ 40 -
20 -
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Deflection [mm]

Fig. 3a. Load - deflection diagrams for large beams and normal concrete

---------2-0---Hf-------------1-~~-----------

-0.01 0 0.01 0.02 0.03

Strain

Fig. 3b. Strains at upper and lower fibres for large beams and normal
concrete

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 so.-~~,-~----;~~-,~~-;=====~~---,

45 ----+-------1 - - LF __
-+--"""·-· ___ " + - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - 1 - - HF -
40
r--"' 35
~ 30 -
1--J 25
'"O
g 20
,..:i 15
10
5
0 _L-J._L_J_L...J.....l,_J._L-l-..1.-J......l-~..J-.J.....l-J-l......_._....___.._.._"'--'--'--'"--'-'

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Deflection [mm]
Fig. 4a. Load - deflection diagrams for small beams and normal
concrete

__"______ -LF
·--···----·-······-··---·· --- --40 -·" -----
-HF ,______,
- HF ____________,
--l--·-··--11---¥~---.--- ___.,,-1---...------t--- - - LF 1-------1

+------+-------!----"---!

-0.01 -0.005 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02

Strain
Fig. 4b. Strains at upper and lower fibres for small beams and normal
concrete

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 150
140 ----· - - - - - - - -

130
120
110
,-._ 100
z 90
~
1--1 80
"'d
~
70
0 60
~
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Deflection [mm]

Fig. 5a. Load deflection diagrams for small beams and high strength
concrete

----+-----+--~- -------------

-0.01 -0.005 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02

Strain
Fig. Sb. Strains at upper and lower fibres for small beams and high
strength concrete

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 160---~---r~~~~~...--~-.-~~-.-~--.

140
120 -- ---- ------l------+-·--·---------t- ~----!---·---~

:z100
~
re 80
\-I

~
-LF
-HF
j 60
40 -·····-····-
20 -
0 ~'--4--4-+-+--!-~-!-~-+-+-+---+-'r-+--+-f-+--+-+-+-+-r-+--+-~

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Deflection [mm]
Fig. 6a. Load - deflection diagrams for small beams and fibre concrete

1------H --LF
-HF
-~---------H-LF
-HF

-0.01 -0.005 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02

Strain

Fig. 6b. Strains at upper and lower fibres for small beams and fibre
concrete

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 140-.-~--,~~~~~~~~~~~~~

120
z 100
~ 80+-------__,_~--~---+-<----+----+---~•
"--'

~ 60
0
~ 40
20
0 ....+-+-+-+--+-+--+-+-+--+-+--+-+-+--+-+---+-1-+-+-+---+-+-+-+-+~f--+-l

0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03

Rotation [rd]

Fig. 7. Load - support rotation diagrams for large beams and normal
concrete

so.....--~~~~...,..--~~~~..,--~~~___,,--~~~--.

45 --!·····------· ----·---+--- _ ___,_LF

40 -1------·---------1------------> _______,______, - HF
35 -LF
Z30-~---------------·~,~---
~ -HF
"--'25
~
~ 20 -------·-------,f/L,,-+----i

~15-1---------1----4---~-
10
5
0 _.__._.....__._-'--...__...__..__..__..__..___..__..___.__.__..___.--'---'---1..___..l

0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04

Rotation [rd]
Fig. 8. Load - support rotation diagrams for small beams and normal
concrete

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 140 -
120
r-i100
z
~ 80
"e
~
0 60
~

40
20
0
0 0.005 om 0.015 0.02 0.025 o.o3 o.035 o.o4
Rotation [rd]
Fig. 9. Load - support rotation diagrams fors mall beams and high
strength concrete

160~~~-,--~~---~~..--~~,--~--.

140
120
z 100
~: 1-
~
'-J
"e
80 --1
~
j 60
40
20
0 -f-t-t--+-+-t-+-+-+-+-+--+-+-1--+-_,__...,r-+-+-~r-+-+-+--l-l

0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05

Rotation [rd]
Fig. 10. Load - support rotation diagrams for small beams and fibre
concrete

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 Table 1. Peak load characterisation

Beam Concrete Friction Fmax Deflection Comp. Tens. Sup.

KN mm Strain Strain Rot. (rd)
Large Normal LF 110 40 0.00236 0.00204 0.016
Large Normal HF 136 51.6 0.00391 0.00289 0.02
Small Normal LF 28.7 15.9 0.00227 0.00153 0.012
Small Normal HF 35 21.6 0.00393 0.00227 0.015
Small High. Str LF 99.7 36.5 0.00271 0.00349 0.029
Small High. Str HF 123 45.7 0.00345 0.00435 0.036
Small Fibre LF 108 41.1 0.00352 0.00408 0.032
Small Fibre HF 147 59.3 0.00595 0.00605 0.045

4 Conclusion

Looking forward to the experimental results of the tests on beams, we just

give a summary of our numerical simulations by reporting above, in
table 1, the peak load and the corresponding parameters for each type of
beam. These values will be easy to compare at first glance with the tests
carried out at Aalborg University.

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