Mechanics of Materials 4 (1985) 161-179 161

North-Holland

O N T E N S I O N STIFFENING IN R E I N F O R C E D C O N C R E T E

G.A. H E G E M I E R , H. M U R A K A M I , a n d L.J. H A G E M A N *
Department of Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences, Uni~'ersi(v of Cahfornia at San Diego, La Jo/la.
CA 92093, U.S.A.

Received 7 January 1985; revised version received 16 April 1985

A two phase mixture model for reinforced concrete is presented. The theory is intended to simulate phenomena such as
tension stiffening in reinforced concrete members. Simulation capability includes steel-concrete bond degradation and slip,
progressive concrete cracking, and nonlinear responses of steel and concrete. The resulting model is applied to the problem of
tension stiffening of certain reinforced concrete elements and a closed form solution of the mixture relations is obtained for
displacement-controlled tension tests. Theory versus experiment comparisons indicate that the mixture concept furnishes a
capability to accurately mirror complex phenomena resulting from both concrete cracking and interface slip.

1. Introduction

A c c u r a t e p r e d i c t i o n of the n o n l i n e a r response of reinforced concrete to static a n d d y n a m i c load histories

necessitates that one p r o p e r l y describe steel-concrete interaction m e c h a n i s m s in an analytical model. Such
interaction can have a m a j o r i m p a c t on both strength a n d stiffness of the global composite.
A f t e r initial cracking o f a reinforced concrete structure, three steel-concrete (load transfer) m e c h a n i s m s
are activated. These m e c h a n i s m s are i n t e r d e p e n d e n t a n d are associated with: (i) steel-concrete bond, (ii)
aggregate interlock or interface shear transfer, a n d (iii) dowel action.
This p a p e r focuses u p o n the steel-concrete b o n d m e c h a n i s m from an analytical viewpoint. A c o m p r e -
hensive state-of-the-art survey of e x p e r i m e n t a l efforts on the steel-concrete b o n d m e c h a n i s m has been
r e p o r t e d b y H e g e m i e r and Cheverton (1982).
In what follows, emphasis is placed on an e l e m e n t a r y analytical m o d e l which allows one to simulate the
tension-stiffening effect due to the effective b o n d between the concrete a n d steel, D 6 r r (1975), Clark (1978),
S o m a y a j i (1979). T h e p h e n o m e n o n results from the fact that, in a cracked reinforced concrete tension or
flexural m e m b e r , the intact concrete between each p a i r of a d j a c e n t tensile cracks assists the steel through
the b o n d in carrying the tensile load. As a consequence, the oyerall tensile stiffness of cracked reinforced
concrete is higher than that of the reinforcing bars alone. Thus, if this effect is neglected, the stiffness of
c r a c k e d reinforced concrete can be strongly u n d e r e s t i m a t e d .
F o r design purposes, an empirical d e s c r i p t i o n of the tension-stiffening effect is often i n c o r p o r a t e d into
global f o r c e - d i s p l a c e m e n t or m o m e n t - c u r v a t u r e relations, Branson (1968), R a o a n d S u b r a h m a n y a n (1973),
A m e r i c a n C o n c r e t e Institute C o m m i t t e e 435 (1973). However, the m a j o r d r a w b a c k of this a p p r o a c h is its
' b l a c k b o x ' character. In particular, a c o n s i d e r a b l e e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a base must be established for a
specific structure u n d e r consideration.
F i n i t e element m e t h o d s have been used to simulate the tension-stiffening effect in two different ways. In
one, a ' m a c r o s c o p i c ' a p p r o a c h is a d o p t e d wherein the steel a n d concrete are not s e p a r a t e l y discretized into
finite elements b u t instead the effects of the steel-concrete interaction on the finite element analysis are

* L.J. Hageman is now senior software engineer at Structure Dynamics Research Corporation, San Diego. CA 92121.

0167-6636/85/$3.30 © 1985, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland)

162 G.A. Heyemier et al. / Tension stif[~,niny in reinforced concrete

included through the element constitutive relations. For example, in the layered discrete element analysis
employed by Scanlon (1971), Lin and Scordelis (1975), and Gilbert and Warner (1978), the stress strain
relation of either concrete or steel is modified to produce the observed tension-stiffening effect in the global
element response. This approach allows one to conduct large scale reinforced concrete structural analyses
which include tension-stiffening. However, the element constitutive relations to be used after cracking are
phenomenological and hence there is no general guide for the proper amount of stiffness to attribute, e.g.,
to the concrete. However, this information may be obtained from an alternative finite element approach, as
noted below.
The second finite element approach is a 'microscopic' method in which the steel-concrete interface
region is discretized by a fine finite element mesh and special bond-linkage elements are used to simulate
the stress transfer at the 'interface' (Ngo and Scordelis, 1967; Nilson, 1968; Lutz, 1970: Houde and Mirza,
1974: Sh~fer, 1975: Labib and Edwards, 1978; Gijsbers et al., 1978; Shipman and Gerstle, 1979). This
technique has been applied mainly to the study of bond-slip behavior of laboratory test specimens.
Extension of the method to the geometries of practical reinforced concrete structures does not appear to be
feasible. However, results obtained by the microscopic finite element analysis can be used to guide the
development of the macroscopic element constitutive relations described above. The problems assocated
with this procedure are the cost of the nonlinear finite element analysis and the lack of appropriate
microscopic constitutive relations for the 'slip' and 'dilation' at the interface. With respect to the latter
point, it is noted that all experimental data on slip phenomena are in the form of global force versus
end-slip relations. Thus, local data must be 'backed-out' of an analysis.
An economical alternative to the microscopic finite element analysis is the use of analytical models
which include only one space variable. Such a model was employed by Rehm (1961) and became the basis
of many subsequent investigations on the effect of bond. The analytical model approach has proven to be
very useful in the simulation of bond-slip phenomena, including simulation under cyclic loading (Muguruma
et al., 1967: Morita and Kaku, 1973, Tassios and Yannopoulos, 1981; Somayaji and Shah, 1981). A typical
cross section of previous analytical models of bond-slip phenomena is provided in the following section.
While the existing analytical bond-slip models serve a useful purpose, they cannot, however, conveni-
ently simulate progressive cracking of the concrete nor the nonlinear response of either steel or concrete.
Furthermore, due to the lack of a refined micromechanical basis of these models, appropriate boundary
conditions are not clearly indicated for each model (Tassios and Yannopoulos, 1981; Somayaji and Shah,
1981).
The objective of the present paper is to develop an analytical model of the bond mechanism problem
which can readily simulate progressive cracking of the concrete and the nonlinear response of steel and
concrete, and which leads to well posed boundary value problems. The form adopted for this model is a
two-phase mixture. The resulting mixture model is applied to the tension stiffening of cracked reinforced
concrete. In particular, a closed form solution of the mixture relations is obtained for displacement-con-
trolled tension tests, This solution has been used to obtain effective global stress-strain relations for
progressively fracturing tension specimens. The latter, in turn, furnishes a guide as to the stiffness for
reinforced concrete during progressive tensile cracking. The results indicate that the mixture model
provides an analytical approach which can economically simulate tension-stiffening of reinforced concrete
due to both concrete cracking and interface slip.

2. Previous analytical models

In order to clarify the advantages offered by a mixture model, a brief discussion of previous analytical
bond-slip equations (Rehm, 1961; Muguruma; Morita and Tomita, 1967) is provided in this section.
Consider the tension specimen depicted in Fig. 1 in which the coordinate x is selected in the axial
 G.A. Hegemier er al. / Tension strffening in reinforced concrefe 163

a b
Fig. 1. (a) A tension specimen. (b) An infinitesimal element of steel.

direction. For notational convenience, let ( )‘u), (Y= 1. 2 denote quantities associated with steel and
concrete, respectively.
If one denotes the total cross-sectional area of the specimen by A, then the cross-sectional areas of steel
and concrete can be written n”A and n”‘A, respectively, where the volume fraction n’“’ satisfies the
condition
.(‘)+.‘2)= 1. (I)
With use of the volume fraction, equilibrium of the composite system is usually written

A( .“b$)+ n’*b;~))~, = 0 (2)

where u’~)
i .V denotes axial stress and ( ) \ s d( )/dx. On the other hand, equilibrium of, say. the steel
element, Fig. l(b), furnishes

(3a)
(3b)

where AP and ur* are the shear and shear stress, respectively, acting on the steel-concrete ‘interface’, and \k
is the rebar perimeter. For elastic response, the constitutive relations for steel and concrete are written in
the one-dimensional form

a,!\“)= E’“‘U,‘,“‘, a = 1, 2 (4)

where E’a) and U’a) denote elastic constant and axial displacement, respectively. Finally, if the slip [U] is
defined as
[u] E u’2’ - u”’
(5)
and (4) is substituted into the derivative of (5) and u,!,“’ is eliminated by use of (2) and (3) one obtains the
classical bond-slip equation (Rehm, 1961)

[U], ri.~+ (l/n”‘E”’ + l/n’2’E’2’) P = 0. (6)

It is interesting to note that the above derivation does not require one to assume a distribution for the
concrete strain U ‘2)
~ (Giuriani, 1982).
In order to obtain a solution of (6), a bond-slip relation must be postulated. For monotonic slip, this
relation may be stated in the form

P = ‘I’u;/A =f([ U]). (7)

1 (~4 G.A. Hegemier et al. / Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete

(a ) D e f o r m e d Bar Specimen
80
•/D. _ _o.. ~O- - - ~O.~O"" o " ° " ~°

60

40 ~/
/ o 4cm
• 15.5 cm
20

,6o 2 o' ' 4bo

Slip (lO'3mm)
E

~x (b) Ploin Bar Specimen

40
b~
7~:--~'--~= - ~ * - - -,~- _ _ _ .. _ _ _ ~,

30
~.~,_~.._~. o 2,5 cm
~, ~- • I5 cm-
20
• 55 cm
~b- o 75 c m
I0
Fig. 2. lnterfacial shear stress-slip measurements of plain and
I i i , i I
deformed bar tension specimens at different locations from the
0 ,oo 2bo free edge. Reproduced from Muguruma, Morita and Tomita
Slip O0-3mm) (1967).

Assuming a linear relation P = k[U], for example, Fukuda (1933) and Buffer (1958) solved (7) for [U] in an
attempt to better understand the distributions of steel and local bond stresses, respectively. Other proposed
empirical bond-slip relations have been reviewed by Tassios (1979).
Since (6) was derived on the basis of averaged stress and displacement, or by assuming uniform stress
and displacement distributions over the cross sections of steel and concrete, the resulting equation has the
character of an outer (interior) solution of matched asymptotic expansions (Cole, 1974). As a result, the
solution of (6) may not satisfy the zero boundary condition, ( P = 0 or [U].,, =0), at the termini of a
tension specimen. This suggests that there exists a boundary layer in which P ranges from a nonzero value
to zero.
It is interesting to note that Muguruma et al. (1967) have obtained experimental data which implies that
an effective bond stress-slip relation for deformed bars, Fig. 2(a), may be postulated which does not depend
on the distance x from the specimen edge. For concrete reinforced with plain bars, however, portions of
their data indicate a dependence on x , Fig. 2(b). Based upon similar observations, Nilson (1968)
introduced an interface constitutive relation of the form

P =f([u]. x). (8)

On the other hand, Houde and Mirza (1974; and, Mirza and Houde, 1979) reported that they did not
observe significant contributions of x in (8).
The foregoing information indicates that there may be two types of boundary layers: (i) a thin boundary
layer in which P decreases to zero, and (ii) a layer in which a nonunique bond-slip relation (8) must be used
if one is to avoid three-dimensional aspects of the problem. With respect to the first boundary layer, some
 G.A. Hegemier et al. / Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete 165

authors have ignored the outer solution aspect of (6) and have forced [U] ..... to vanish at the termini
(Tassios and Yannopoulos, 1981; Somayaji and Shah, 1981). With respect to the postulated second layer,
Muguruma et al. (1967) have observed that the x-dependency of the P - [U] relation becomes significant
only after considerable nonlinearity is encountered as shown in Fig. 2(b).
When one considers concrete cracking as well as bond-slip, it is evident that equations (1)-(6) are simply
not adequate. In an effort to simulate combined cracking and bond-slip in reinforced concrete Hegemier et
al. (1982) and Hageman (1983) applied a mixture theory which was originally developed for modeling the
thermomechanical behavior of composite materials (Hegemier et al., 1973; Hegemier and Gurtman, 1974).
In this approach the steel and concrete are modeled as superposed continua in space which interact via an
'interaction' term. Within the context of the previous one-dimensional discussion, the mixture equations
are of the form:
(a) Mixture equilibrium equations
(I~ ~¢ + P = 0,
n(]~o~-.~, n ( 2 ) UX.~<,
- ( 2 ) A" - - P = 0; (9)

(b) Mixture constitutive relations

E(1)_ F(]W(]) _(2) E<2>U(2) (10)

P =f([U]), [ u ] - u < 2 ' - U ''>. (11)

Equation (6) can be derived directly from (9) and (10). However, the advantage of using the mixture
model is three-fold: (i) one can include the nonlinear behavior of steel and concrete by recasting the
material constitutive relations (10) in incremental form, and (ii) hysteretic, irreversible slip can be modeled
by rewriting the interface constitutive relation (11) in incremental form, and (iii) concrete cracking can be
included by postulating a fracture criterion in terms of _(2)
O~c.-¢ • Hegemier et al. (1982) have demonstrated that

the mixture model is capable of simulating both monotonic and cyclic bond-slip and cracking behaviors of
reinforced concrete. A similar analysis was carried out by Tassios and Yannopoulos (1981) using (2)-(6). A
comparison of the two approaches and their simulation capabilities reveal that the mixture framework is
more suitable for constructing a general theory.
The relevant mixture bond-slip equations have been derived by Murakami and Hegemier (1985) from a
general mixture theory. However, in order to clarify the underlying assumptions pertaining to the bond-slip
equations (9), (10) and (11), the mixture bond-slip equations will be derived herein for cylindrical
coordinates and for the special case of a tension specimen.

Mixture model

Consider a reinforced concrete member (tension specimen) with circular cross-section, of length 2l and
radius (, as illustrated in Fig. 3. Let cylindrical coordinate x, or, 0 be selected for reference with x in the
axial direction. With respect to the 'micro' coordinate r, the outer and interface radii are represented by
r = 1 and n ~ 7, respectively.

Er /~(e)
(2) T" ," I
................ .Z_--. . . . . . . . . c__
. . . . . . . . ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _; - x

Fig. 3. A reinforced concrete member with circular cross-sec-

x:O x: 2£ tion of length 2/and radius (.
166 G.A. Hegemier et al. / Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete

In the sequel, the mixture model derivation is based upon the use of the modified Reissner's
stress-displacement variational principle (Reissner, 1984). Accordingly, trial functions must be assumed for
the displacements and certain stress components. For the displacements, the following forms are selected:
u,(a)ttx, r ) = U'~'(x), u'9'(x, r ) = c & ( x ) r (12)
where u.,"
~ and u(~~) denote axial and radial displacement components, respectively.
The necessary stress trial functions are o)~ ), o0~'), a)~7~; their forms are selected as follows:
o/f '(x, r) = r / # ( x ) , cr0~b"(x,r) = r0~"(x),
a),~'(x, r) = ~ P ( x ) g ' " ' ( r ) + ~r, ( x ) r / 2 (13)
where
g " ' ( r ) = r/(2n~"), g'2)(r) = ( - r + 1 / r ) / ( 2 n ' 2 ' ) , (14)
F, = 2 "r,'e'/c, P + n'"F, = 2 n~/~r,~'/, = 2 n~Tgrr,*/c, (15)

and where ~T,~'~ and ~T* are the x-components of the stress vector acting on r = 1 and r = ~#~;,
respectively. The form (13) is motivated by asymptotic analysis and applies only to the case of axial
loading treated herein.
The appropriate form for the modified principle of virtual work for the axisymmetric deformation under
consideration is

3¢~ ~,~, + +aG.,.o,. ,. + )+3aff"(u'/.;'/,-e~ (...))

a~l
+3OCo;'(u'")/~r-e~o'~' ( . . . ))+3o;.,(a) (u .....
(a)
+ u ~(a), , / ~ - _ _~_~,(a)
, , ( . . . ))]rdr
2 v ~ n ~)
q---[rTr*(~u:2)-~U(r'))* q- rT,~' ( ~ td!~' - a/,t~' ) ) *
%
+ (u' 2 ' - u:'))*3 "r* + (u~2 ' - u'," )'3 "T*] J dx (16)

[2,(\ -'2"~
- . 3 (u ~ 2-¢) rTr(e'q-3U{21 Tt ) dx+ 2v (3u~,"' "T~("' + 3u(,."' ~T,~ ' ) r d r
• ]r=l 1 I)

where the starred quantities imply variables defined on the interface r = n ~ g , ~T~'~ is the surface traction
on r = 1, ~T ~) is the surface traction on x = 0 and 21, and

fd"' = { r JO < r < n~/~ ) , I2~2'= { r l ~ n ~l' < r < l} (17)

In (16) it is understood that

-'°' ~
¢~'rr a(au~O,/car) asr, 8e'0~' = 8( u,'°' / G ) = 3 S r ,
28e~.,?' - 3( Ou~9)/Ox + au~)/cOr) + c3S~.,.r, 3e(,Y,,= 3(8u(,Y'/Ox), (~8)
e,,c,Jt, "'" ) -= o/~)/t z~"), ~ = OuJOx,
e ....

(19)
[eoo(. [~,,., (X + 2/t)~, ~[Ooo I '
~ = ( ~ + 2 / z ) "~ e x~.~
a ,.,. .~ +
X~-~( ~ . . . . . .
(20)
 G.A. Hegemier et aL / Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete 167

where ~(") and /*(") denote Lamb constants. Substituting (12)-(15) and (18)-(20) into (16) furnishes

2
1
(XT("P)-o("))+'2aSr('T/-M,-r
'1 ~"
=

= vfo2' [~__ [SU ('~)(o;.,.~

(.p) + ( - 1) "*' p + n('~'F~)
1

/.~,~(a)Trr(Ct)-- X(a),l.0(ff)
-- F/(a ,(~ T;r, { Sr- (( X ..~_ ),.), 2X(a)~.~(a)U(f))/(al.t(a)(~k,. ~t. ~,£)(a)) )
- n¢")3 r.~,;)k
. ( [ Sr - ,( - X(")__)
rJfl + ( X + 2tz_("Lroo
) - 2~.(%t(")U(")]/(4u'")()~+tz)("))}]
.... ,-, - .

+aS~ .ZM~ .... - Z "'")(r/7 )+ re(; )) +'2Fr

_,2~p (U(2)-o(l')/,2+~gr..v -.=,E l - ~ ) +-~,) dx=O, (21)

where
o.. . . . x77~(-,,) = 2f~ ,.,( (~(;', x77,!") ) rd r, Fr= (2/c2)r~ (e),
(-(-~)
XT/= ~ 2 f~.,rXTr(")rd r, (22)

and where

k (")= 2fsa,,,rg(~)rdr, x ('~)= 2fn(,,g(")2rdr ,

2
5,(")=f~,or:rdr, k = ~ ~("),
Ot
~ - - ~ 9 ("). (23)

In particular, equations (23) yield

K'2)= - ( 2 + n(2) +(2/n `2)) In n('))/(8n(:'), 5' =¼. (24)

The Euler-Lagrange equations of (21), on 0 < x < 21, are:

_Op)
°x x, x + p + nO)E~- = O, (~......
(2p) - P + n(Z)E~ = O, (25a,b)
2
, 2 M ...... - g ,'°'( ~/;) + #;') + , ~ Z = o, (26)

(a) (a) (a)

Sr = (()~+2/z)(")~'~(fl)-h(")#~)-2h /, U.x. } (27a)
4t~(")(~ +/z) (")
(a) (a) (a)
Sr = ( -)~(")r/fl ) + (~ + 2#)(")re(2 ) - 2~ # U x }, (27b)
4#(")(~ + ~)(")
168 G.A. H e g e m i e r et aL / Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete

2 x(, ) (U (2)- U ~1)) k (") F,

y --P- +,~S,. , - ~ (28)
1 P'(") {2 , /t(") 2 "

Equations (27a,b) may be rewritten as:

~'00] {;V")U(,~)+2(~+#/ at} 1 . (29)

If (20) is substituted into (22a) and use is made of (12), (19), (13) and (29), one obtains

o~,""' = n('~)(X + 2,)(")U.(~') + 2n{"'N")S,.. (30)

The appropriate boundary conditions at x = 0 and 2l are:
either 8U(1)=0 or o~l,/')=~T, (it'), (31a)
either 8U (2)= 0 or o~ P)='T, (2p), (31b)
either 8Sr = 0 or M,,.='T/. (32)
Where slip occurs, the interface stress "T,?' in (15b) is not arbitrary, i.e., 8rT,* = 8P = 0. Rather, this stress is
governed by an interface slip law. Thus, after the commencement of the slip, P should be computed by a
slip law of the form:
P = f ( U (2)- U { " ) = f ( [ U ] ) (33)
where f is a functional of the slip history. The functional f may also depend on the normal interface stress.
For the elastic response of steel and concrete, equations (25)-(33) together with an appropriate criterion
for slip, define well posed boundary value problems.
If rTr(")= 0 then one may introduce the stress approximation:
#,.") = zd2 )= 0. (34)
Equations (29) and (34) yield
(ct) (a)
Sr=-(X(")/2(h+.) )U., . (35)
If (35) is used in place of (30), one obtains

('~p'=n("'E('~'U'~ '},
O x .~c ,. E("'=-(X + 21z)('~'-(X('~'"/(X +I.t){"'). (36)
The corresponding displacement approximation which is compatible with the static approximation (34)
is

Sr=0. (37)
Thus, these assumptions (34) and (37) are equivalent to the use of the trial functions

U~(") ~- U(~)(x), U r(") 0, (38a)

o~(fl' = o0(g' = 0, or(,.")={Pg("' + {F,r/2, (38b)
in the variational equation (16).
Under the foregoing approximations, the basic equations of the mixture bond-slip model become (25),
(36), and

8P=0 or ~ tc(a)P-(U(2)-U(I,) ~ k(")F~ (39)

~=1 #(") ~5 .=3 #(-) 2 "
 G.A. Hegemier et al. / Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete 169

Nonlinear response of steel and concrete may be treated easily by expressing (36) in an incremental
form:
6I~p)=
,- v n (~)E e p(~)'(°)
U,x (40)

where (')=- 3( )/3t, t = book-keeping time, and E~p I is the elasto-plastic modulus.

4. T h e simulation of tension tests

The simplicity of the mixture model allows one to obtain closed form solutions to certain bond-slip-con-
crete cracking problems. In order to clarify the effect of bond-slip and to illustrate the simulation capability
of the mixture formulation, the model defined by (25), (36) and (39) is adopted in an effort to simulate a
displacement-controlled tension-test. In this simulation the steel remains elastic, the concrete is treated as
elastic-brittle fracture, and steel-concrete slip is allowed. Displacement-control is necessary to accommo-
date the stress drops resulting from progressive cracking of the concrete. The resulting analytical solutions
may be substituted for the microscopic finite element treatment of bond-slip problems (Ngo and Scordelis,
1967; Nilson, 1968; Houde and Mirza, 1974). In the analysis, a local bond-slip law that is independent of
position is used. This is consistent with the observation of Muguruma et al. (1967), as shown in Fig. 2(a).

4.1. Description of problem

In the absence of lateral surface tractions, and body forces, and for monotonic deformation, the most
elementary mixture model assumes the form:

o(lp)
..... + p = O, ( 2 p ) _ ~' = O,
o ...... (41)

a(~P)- -(~)-(~)- n(~)E~IU(7 ),

~.~: -- gg L~v): -- ,. (42)

P = K ( U ~ 2 ) - U ~')) for [ P ] < P ~ r or [PJ=P~r and PP<O, (43a)

P=sgn(U(2)-U°')P~r for]P]=P,.~ and P P = 0 , (43b)

where E ('~) is given by the second of (36) and

K - ' = ~ 2 { 1 / # ° ) - [2 + n '2' +(2 in n"))/n(2)]/(n'2)l~(2' ) }. (43c)

In (42) a linear elastic constitutive relation for the steel and concrete is assumed. In tension, the concrete
is assumed to deform elastically up to brittle fracture, which occurs when oI2) reaches f,.
Equations (43) correspond to a local bond-slip law with a bilinear elastic-perfectly plastic character (Fig.
4). This form has been adopted by other authors, e.g., see Muguruma et al. (1967). The critical interaction
term P~ in (43) may be related to a critical interface stress (ofl)~ by (15b). Equation (43a) holds for a
perfect bond condition, while (43b) applies for irreversible slip.
For a linear material response, one obtains the following system of differential equations by substitution
of (42) and (43) into (41):
for the bonded domain (0 < x < Xp)

+ K(V V " ' ) / ( n " ' E " ' ) = 0,

U,(2'~- K(U '2,- U°))/(n'2)E '2,) = 0; (44)
170 G.A. Hegernieret al. / Tension stiffening in reinforcedconcrete
P

~r

0 It

U(2)_ U(I)
Fig. 4. A local bond-slip relation.

for the d e b o n d e d d o m a i n (xp < x < / )

"U ......
(1) + sgn(U(2) -
U(1 ) ) P c r / ( n ( 1 ) E (I I) = O,
U,'~', - s g n ( U ~2' - V(l')Pcr/(Kl(2'E `2, ) = 0 (45)
where Xp is the b o u n d a r y between the d e b o n d e d and b o n d e d d o m a i n s , as shown in Fig. 5. The solution of
(44) is

U ( ' ' = B, e x p ( - B x ) +B2(x- l) + B 3 e x p ( / g x ) + B ,

U (2) ~;{B, exp(-[~x)+B3exp(Bx)} +B2(x-I)+B 4 (46)

x=O: UOf= -eeZ

(~) (a) (b) (c) (d)
(°-)(x)d =0
debonded,d
(slipping)

X=Xp: (U(a)) d =(U[a)) b

(~(ah (a)
Uxx 'd : (°';~x)b

"Physical Cracking
perfectly Sequence
bonded, b
(no slip)
(e) (f) (g) (h)

x =/, : (UO))b=(U (z))b =0

plane of symmetry

4- Mathematical Representation
Fig. 5. Continuity conditions of a partially debonded tension Fig. 6. Cracking sequence assumed for parameter study.
specimen of length 2l.
 G.A. Hegemier et a L / Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete 171

where B~, B2, B3 and B4 are integration constants and

f12 = K ( 1 / ( n(])E(t) ) + 1/( n(2)E(2) ) ) . (47)

The solution of (45) is

U ( " = sgn(U <2)- U(1)) P~ • x 2 / ( 2 n m E (')) + C~')x/E `1) + C~'),

U `2'= - sgn(U (2)- Utl))P~ • x2/(2n(2)E (2') + C~2'x/E(2)+ C2(2) (48)

where C~~1 and Cz~) are integration constants.

The integration constants are evaluated by appropriate boundary conditions. For the perfect specimen
(a) in Fig. 6, the boundary conditions may be written as

U(u(I) = U(2)(l)= O, U(1)(O) = U(2)(O)= - e e l (49)

where e e is the 'effective strain'. Upon substituting (46) into (49) and solving for the integration constants
one obtains

U o ) = U(2)= e e ( x - l), (50)

O(1)
~ = E(Ue . . . . . . 0(2) = E(Z)ee, P = 0. (51)
It will be convenient to define an 'effective stress' according to

Oe ~ /~/(1)O'(1)x.~
-f- rl"(2)-(2)Uxx=-- Eeee (52)
where E e denotes the 'effective modulus'. If (51) is substituted into (52), one obtains
E e = n(UE o) + n(2)E (2) = E m. (53)
Since the axial stress is uniform, the location of the first concrete crack is flaw-controlled. For simplicity,
first cracking of the concrete is assumed to occur at the specimen center, x = l, when the concrete stress o~ )
reaches the uniaxial tensile strength of the concrete, ft. The boundary conditions of the cracked specimen
(b) in Fig. 6 become

U°)(0) = U(2)(0)= -eel, U d ) ( l ) _- t2) ( l ) -- 0 .

oZ~ (54)

A careful examination reveals that this boundary value problem is equivalent to the specimen (f) of Fig. 6.
In the solution of the specimen (b) the maximum concrete tensile stress occurs at the edges, x = 0 and 21.
Thus, after the second cracking, the specimens reduce to (c) in Fig. 6, which is also obtained from (f) by
additional cracking.
The foregoing observations reveal that the important boundary conditions are those associated with the
specimen (f):

Ud)= _eel, °xx-(2)=0 at x = 0. (55a)

U t u = U (2)= 0 at x = l. (55b)
and

(U('~))d=(Ut"))b , ,vxx(a(")]Jd=(a('~)]~vx.~
,b atx=xp (56)

where the subscripts b and d refer to quantities associated with the bonded and debonded domains,
respectively, as depicted in Fig. 5. Since the solution in each domain is elementary, only the final results are
presented here:
172 G.A.Hegemieret al. / Tensionstiffeningin reinforcedconcrete
for the debonded domain (0 < x < xp)
o~
(U'")d _ ~ .(
2n?i~E(,) ,xp~ _ x ~
) n(l~E {1~( x p - x

+--~m(xp--l)-n"'E(')'fl"
1 n'2'e(2'°~ tanh fl( l - _%)} (57a)

( v '~')d 2,,~,2;, ~ - ~ )
P.XvEm
n(2)E~2~% ) tanh fl( l -
x~)} (57b)

( o'~l,))d = (O'c- ecrX)/H(')' \[O121\,,~d = PerX/H(2, (58a.b)

p = P,~; (59)
for the bonded domain (Xp < x < l)
n{2)E {2} 1 ( ecrxpEwt I sinh fl(l- x) 1
(60a)
. ' ~ ' e % ] cosh ¢(l- x,) j'
,( 1(
(u(=').=~T ( ~ - l ) + ~ 1
PcrXp E m / sinh fl(l- x)
(60b)

(_(1) ~, OeE(1)
o~,. )b E,. (60c)

_(2)~ OeE(2) cosh fl(l- x) (1 PcrxpE"~ (60d)

(°x* ]b Em

p_ K o~ 1 P~rxpEm ) sinh fl(l- x)

(60e)
fl n(1)E (1) n(2~E(2)o~ cosh fl(l- xp)
where
o e ~ r t O 'a ~'')
,. + n(2'a~2
. )= n{"o('~(O) . >,-.~ , , (61)
If, now, one sets P of (60e) equal to P~r at x = xp, the effective stress, % can be expressed in terms of xp
and P~r as follows:

PcrEm { 1 } (62)
oe n(21E{2, Xp-t fl t a n h ( l - x p ) "

Further, from (57a) and (55a) one obtains

P.x~ oexp
e¢ - 2n(l~E(~)l+ n(~)Em l
Oe {(XP )n12)E(2)I (ecrxpEm) }
E,, --[-- 1 n°'E ''' --~ 1 n(Z'E(2'°¢ tanh fl(l- xp) . (63)
 G.A. Hegemier et al. / Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete 173

Thus, the effective modulus, E m, becomes

-- P c r x p E m + - 1
E~ = E m 2n~l)E~l~lo~ n~l~E~ l
1

+ n , , , E ~ ) • B---]l. 1 n~2'E~2'o~ t a n h / 3 ( 1 - Xp) (64)

Note that, for a specimen with zero bond, Xp = l, and P~.~= 0, equation (64) reduces to the case where no
tension stiffening exists:
E =n~l)E ~1~. (65)

4.2. Simulation of composite response before and after transverse cracking

With use of the above results for the effective stress, strain, and modulus, it is possible to conduct a
parametric study of the tension-stiffening effect in tension specimen subject to progressive fracturing and
debonding. In this study, the steel volume fraction, n ~1~, the ratio of specimen diameter to specimen length,
~/l, and the ratio of bond strength to concrete tensile strength, S - (o,*)~/f, would be varied over ranges
of practical interest. Below, such a study is carried out.
The initial conditions for each simulation to be discussed correspond to the boundary conditions (49)
shown in Fig. 6(a). The effective modulus for this initial state is given by (53), and the average stresses in
the steel and concrete are given by (51). First cracking of the concrete is assumed to occur at the center of
the specimen when the tensile strength of the concrete is reached. The corresponding effective stress at this
point is given by

(o~)~r = Em(e~)°r where (e~)~r = f J E ~2~. (66a,b)

Subsequent to the first crack one must recompute the field variables for the state in Fig. 6(b). However,
the state in Fig. 6(b) is mathematically equivalent to the state in Fig. 6(f). Thus, to obtain the field variables
for the state (b) one can use (57) and (60) if one replaces x by x - l. Progressive cracking is then simulated
by replacing l by ½l, ½1 by ¼l. . . . . in the solutions of the mixture equations (57) and (60). A typical axial
distribution of stresses is depicted in Fig. 7. The results are qualitatively similar to that obtained by the
microscopic finite element method (Nilson, 1968; Lutz, 1970; Houde and Mirza, 1974; Giuriani, 1982), and
to the experimental data reported for deformed bars (Muguruma et al., 1967, Bresler and Bertero. 1968). It
should be noted that U~2)(0) represents one half of the crack opening predicted by the model.
The behavior depicted in Figs. 8 can be partitioned into three stages as shown. In Stage I, the concrete is
uncracked, the steel-concrete bond is perfect and the response is elastic. The beginning of Stage II
corresponds to the first concrete crack; during this stage the number of cracks increases as the effective
strain increases and the major decrease in effective specimen stiffness occurs; cracking is manifested by
vertical drops in the effective stress, and debonding is reflected by a more gradual degradation between
cracks. The effective stress versus effective strain curve is discontinuous, but the mean effective stress
remains relatively constant during progressive fracture of the specimen, Fig. 8(a). The cessation of concrete
cracking marks the end of Stage II, and Stage III corresponds to bond-slip without further cracking;
yielding of the rebar (not shown here) generally marks the end of this final stage. These stages have been
observed experimentally by Somayaji (1979) for wire reinforced mortar specimens with rectangular cross
section and four to eighteen wires. A comparison of the model with the above experimental data was
carried out by Hageman (1983). Typical results are shown in Fig. 9. It has been observed that the
agreement between the simulated and measured results are satisfactory.
 I74

Stages of Response

I-III III
I I
/ 1

\
Crack
- Before Crack
----After Crack

l.On /

Band ’ k -,;\ ,,,,, ls”’

0 2 4 6
0 2’1 x Normalized Strain, e,/(e,)F,

Fig. 7. Axlnl distribution of blress in tension specimen before Fig. 8. Stages of response of axially reinforced concrete to
and :~ftcr tunsversc cracking. uniaxial monotonic extension.

4.2. A purumetric stud)

In an effort to ascertain how steel, concrete, interface and geometrical descriptions influence the global
response of reinforced concrete under monotonic extension, a parametric study involving 72 tension test
simulations was conducted. In this investigation, the following parameters were varied as indicated in Table
1: steel volume fraction, ratio of specimen diameter to length, and ratio of bond strength to concrete
strength. Representative results are presented in Figs. 10 and 11 in terms of normalized effective stress,
strain and secand modulus. The effective stress and strain are normalized by (u,):, and ( ec)zrr respectively
(effective stress and strain at first cracking of the concrete); the effective secant modulus is accordingly
normalized by E,,, (effective untracked modulus). In what follows, these normalized quantities will be
denoted simply as a,, e, and E,.
For each simulation, a, versus e, and E, versus e, curves were generated. These data reveal the stiffness
degradation, stress drops, and strain hardening phenomena which accompany progressive cracking and
debonding of the specimen. A complete set of these curves are presented by Hageman (1983).
The simulated data reveal a weak influence of the strength and length parameters on the (normalized)
 G.A. Hegemier et al. / Tension stifJening in reinforced concrete 175

2.0 I I I I I

I.g

"• 1.6
bo 1.4

1.2

._~ ~,o
~ 0,8
W
~ 0.6 "~riment (SpecimenBS)
~ ,4 Theory
z 0.2

(30 I 2 5 4 5 6
Fig. 9. Comparison of test and simulation: Tension specimen
NormelizedEffectiveStrain, ee/(ee)lcr B3 from Somayaji (1979).

global response of the specimens. In contrast, examination of the effective modulus show the steel volume
fraction to have a strong influence on global response.
The weak dependence of the global response on a specimen's initial length, as represented in
nondimensional form by the parameter c, is fortunate from two viewpoints: (i) in most problems the
location of the first crack is flaw-dominated and is not known from a deterministic standpoint: (ii) in the
process of complete homogenization, one seeks a continuum model without explicit dependence on initial
crack location. With respect to complete homogenization, therefore, the results of this parameter study
suggest the feasibility of constructing a single phase model by averaging out the ~/l-dependence over the
~/1 interval of interest. Some discussion of this task is furnished below.

4. 4. D e v e l o p m e n t o f s m o o t h e d constitutive relation

The first step toward a smoothed constitutive relation is the development of a smoothed normalized
secant modulus, Er(e~.), the parameters of which have been shown to depend (significantly) only on the

Table 1
Parameter values adopted in study of tension specimen
Steel volume
fraction, n ~1) 0,005 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Ratio of specimen
diameter to specimen
length, ~./I 0.04 0.10 0.25
Ratio of bond strength
to concrete tensile
strength ( off,.) ~/ft 1 2 3 4
176 G.A. Hegernier et al. / Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete

1,0 l S=I
~ =E
0,04
0.8

( : 0'i0 '
2.0 E
I I [ I I w 0,6;
a)
S=I hi

I,O 0,4

i I I I I 0.2 i I i i J
O0 I 2 3 4 5 6 0 2 5 4 5 6
ee/(e e )Or ee/(ee)Or
Fig. 10. (a) o,. versus e~, n ~1)= 0.02. (b) Ee versus e~, n<l) = 0.02.

steel volume fraction. Such a m o d u l u s function may be incorporated into a phenomenological model
(Dougill, 1976; Dougiil a n d Rida, 1980) or into the element constitutive relation of a ' m a c r o s c o p i c ' finite
element analysis with tension-stiffening effects (Lin a n d Scordelis, 1975; Gilbert and Warner, 1978).
The construction of a smoothed stiffness function progressed as follows: F o r each c o m b i n a t i o n of steel
volume fraction a n d strength parameters, the E e vs. ee curves were 'averaged' using nine equally spaced
cross sections in the E c - e~ space c o r r e s p o n d i n g to e~ = 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 a n d 5.0. At each
of these cross sections the three values of E c, c o r r e s p o n d i n g to ( / l = 0.04, 0.1 a n d 0.25, were averaged to

1.0

0.8

E
bJ
2.0 I I ' I I I 0,6
hl

ob
1,0 0.4

b~

00
I I I I [ 0.2 I I 1 I I I
I 2 3 4 5 6 0 I 2 3 4 5 6
ee/(ee)Or ee/(ee)°r
Fig. 11. (a) % versus e~, n m = 0.02. (b) E~ versus e~, n (I)= 0.02.
 G.A. Hegemier et aL / Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete 177

1.0 I i t I

o..b
v
b® 5,0
fi nIt1 : o,05---~
,,, 0,8 (P
0.04 ~ - k /
u7 ~- 4.0 0.05---, \ x /

o
\//
0.6
U
e,.
nO)=O.05 co 3,0
oo, ._~
g
"5 0,4 _ _

2.0
o ~ 0.02 "0

o
0.2 o
E 1.0
0.005 a
laJ
I I I I
, I I I I I 0
O0 I 2 :5 4 5 6 0 2 4 6 8 I0
Effective Strain Ratio, ee/(ee)°r Normolized Effective Strain, ee/(ee)c°r

Fig. 12. Normalized secant modulus function, Ef, for six steel Fig. 13. % versus e e for six steel volume fractions based on
volume fractions. secant modulus function, E,.

furnish nine points in E~ - e e space. The result of an inverse second order polynomial fit to these data is

E, ( .(,)E,,,
E----~ =
)
E----~ + a +
1 (6Va)
1
-b e¢+be 2
1 -- (rt(1)E(1) + a ]
)
where

a = 0.034, b = 0.3 + 58.5/'/(1). (67b)

In Fig. 11(b), a typical smoothed E l - e e curve (dashed l!ne) is overlayed on the actual simulation
results. The smoothed representation is observed to provide a good representation of the discontinuous
data. In Fig. 12 the resulting secant modulus function defined by (67) is graphed for six volume fractions to
illustrate the dependence of E e on n (~). In Fig. 13 averaged effective stress versus effective strain curves are
depicted for the six steel volume fractions considered. These synthesized curves were constructed by
applying the smoothed normalized secant function as follows:

0 0 0
Oe/(O'e)crY gree/(ee)cr for e e >~ ( e e ) c r (68a)

oJ(a~)% = EmeJ(e~) % for e e < (e~)~. (68b)

The function Ef is observed to be an excellent representation of stiffness degradation for a wide range of
parameters.
I v ~: G.A. lte~emier et al. / Tension sttiff~,mn~ in reinforced concrele

5. Conclusions

A t~vo-phase mixture model for tension-type specimens has been presented. The model simulates
progressive cracking of the concrete, steel-concrete bond slip, and nonlinear response of steel and concrete.
The model correctly predicts the well known tension-stiffening effect associated with tensile loading of
reinforced concrete.
In addition to the two-phase model noted abo'~e, a single phase model was constructed using certain
smoothing operations. The latter model furnishes an economical substitute to a 'microscopic' finite element
analysis of bond-slip, tension-stiffening problems.

Acknowledgement

Research sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFSG) under Contract F49620-81-
C-0033 to S-CUBED, La Jolla, CA, and by the National Science Foundation, under NSF Grant CEE
78-165~1 to the University, of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA.

References Gilbert. l. and R.F. Warner (1978), "'Tension stiffening in

American Concrete Institute Conmlittee 435 (1973), "'Deflec-
tion of continuoux concrete beams", A ( 7 Journal 70, 781.
Branson. D.E. (1968), "Design procedures for computing de-
flections", A (7 Journal 65, 730.
Bresler, B. and V. Bertero (1968), "'Behavior of reinforced
concrete under repeated load", d. Slruetura/Divisi~m, ASCE
94. 1567.
Bufler, H. (1958,). "' Ein neuer Ansatz zur Berechnung der Draht
und ttalftspannungen in Stahlbeton", Bauiny;, 38, H. 10.
Clark, L.A. (1978). "Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete
beam~, and slabs under short-term load". Cement and Con-
crete Association Technical Report 45.521. London.
(olc. J,l). (1974), Perturhation Methm,(s in Applied Mathe-
matics, Blaisdell, Waltham, MA.
l),?,rr, K. (1975), "Kraft und Dehnungsverlauf yon in Beton
Zylindern zentriseh einbetonierten Bewehrungssti'~ben unter
Querdruck", For,schungsberichte aus dem Institut fhr Mas-
sivbau der Technischen Hochschule Darmstadt 30.
Dougill. J.W. (1976), " O n stable progressively fracturing
solids", J. Apphed Mathematics and Physics (ZAMP) 27,
423.
Dougill, J.W. and M.A.M. Rida (1980), '" Further consideration
of progressively fracturing solids", J. Engineeriny Mecha-
n,~ Division, ASCE 106, 1021.
Fukuda, T. ~1933), " O n some problems connected with the
distribution of stresses in reinforced concrete members acted
upon by axial forces" (in Japanese), J. Japan SoeieO' of
('wil Engineers 19, 201.
Gijsbers, F.B.J.. A.K. de Groot. and G.M.A. Kusters (1978),
"'A numerical unodel for bond slip problems", in: G. Mehl-
ilorn et al., Eds., Prow. lASS Symposium. Nonlinear Behav-
ior q[ Reinfi,'ced ('on('rete Spaeial Structure.s, Darmstadt, 37.
reinforced concrete slabs", J. Structural Division, AS('E
104, 1885.
Giuriani, E. (1982), " O n the effective axial stiffness of a bar in
cracked concrete", in: P. Bartons, Ed. Bond in Concrete.
Proceedings of the International Conference on Bond in
Concrete, Paisley College of Technology, Scotland, June
14-16, 1982, Applied Science Publishers, London, 107.
Hageman, L.J. (1983), "A mixture theory with microstructure
applied to the debonding, cracking and hysteretic response
of axially reinforced concrete", Ph.D. Dissertation, Univer-
sity of California at San Diego.
Hegemier, G.A., G.A. Gurtman and A.H. Nayfeh (1973), "A
continuum mixture theory of wave propagation in laminated
and fiber reinforced composites". Internat. J. Solids Struc-
tures 9. 395.
Hegemier, G.A. and G.A. Gurtman (1974), "Finite-amplitude
elastic-plastic wave propagation in fiber-reinforced com-
posites", J. Applied Physics 45, 4254.
Hegemier, G.A. and K.J. Cheverton (1982), "Evaluation of
reinforced concrete models for nuclear power plant applica-
tions", S-Cubed Report No. SSS-R-81-5167, submitted to
EPRI, P.O. Box 1620, La Jolla, CA.
Hegemier, G.A., L.J. Hageman, J.A. Trangenstein and H.E.
Read (1982), "Development of advanced constitutive model
for reinforced concrete", S-Cubed Report, No. SSS-R-82-
5538, La Jolla, CA.
Houde, J. and M.S. Mirza (1974), "A finite element analysis of
shear strength of reinforced concrete beams", ACI Special
Publication, SP42, Shear in Reinforeed Concrete I, 103.
Labib, F. and A.D. Edwards (1978), "An analytical investiga-
tion of cracking in concrete and eccentric reinforced con-
crete tension members", Proe. Institution Cicil Engineers 65,
53.
 G.A. Hegemier et al. / Tension stiffening in reinforced concrete
Lin, C-H. and A.C. Scordelis (1975), "Nonlinear analysis of
RC shells of general form", J. Structural Diuision. A S C E
101, 523.
Lutz, L.A. (1970), "Analysis of stresses in concrete near a
reinforcing bar due to bond and transverse cracking", A C I
Journal 67, 778.
Mirza, M.S. and J. Houde (1979), "Study of bond stress-slip
relationship and reinforced concrete", A C I Journal 76, 19.
Morita, S. and T. Kaku (1973), "Local bond stress-slip rela-
tionship under repeated loadings', Preliminary Publication,
Symposium on Structures Acted on by Repeated Loads,
I.A.B.S.E., Lisbon, Portugal, 221.
Muguruma, T., S. Morita and K. Tomita (1967), "Basic study
on steel-concrete bond: I. On bond stress" (in Japanese),
Trans. Arch. Inst. Japan 131, 1; and 132, 1.
Murakami, H. and G.A. Hegemier (1985), " O n simulating
steel-concrete interaction in reinforced concrete, Part 1:
theoretical development", submitted for publication.
Ngo, D. and A.C. Scordelis (1967), "Finite element analysis of
reinforced concrete beams", A C I Journal 64, 152.
Nilson, A,H. (1968), "'Nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete
by the finite element method", A C I Journal 65, 757.
Rao, P.S. and B.V. Subrahmanyan (1973), "'Trisegmental mo-
ment-curvature relations for reinforced concrete members",
A CI Journal 70, 346.
Rehm, G. (1961), " 0 b e t die Grundlanger des Verbundes
zwischen Stahl und Beton', Deutscher Ausschuss fi~r
Stahlbeton, Bulletin No. 138, Berlin, 55 pp.; (1963) " T h e
179
basic principles of the bond between steel and concrete",
Cement and Concrete Association Translation, No. 134,
London.
Reissner, E. (1984), " O n a certain mixed variational theorem
and a proposed application", lnternat. J. Numer. Meth.
Engrg. 20, 1366.
Scanlon, A. (1971), " T i m e dependent deflections of reinforced
concrete slabs", Ph.D. Thesis, University of Alberta at
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
ShMer, H. (1975), "A contribution to the solution of contact
problems with the aid of bond elements"i Comp. Meth.
Appl. Mech. Engrg. 6, 335.
Shipman, J.M. and K.H. Gerstle (1979), "Bond deterioration in
concrete panels under load cycles", A CI Journal 76, 31 l.
Somayaji, S. (1979), "'Composite response, bond stress-slip
relationships and cracing in ferrocement and reinforced
concrete", Ph.D. Thesis, University of Illinois, Chicago
Circle.
Somayaji, S. and S.P. Shah (1981), "Bond stress versus slip
relationship and cracking response of tension members",
A C I Journal 78, 217.
Tassios, T.P. and P.J. Yannapoulos (1981), "Analytical studies
on reinforced concrete members under cyclic loading based
on bond stress-slip relationships". A CI Journal 78, 206.
Tassios, T.P. (1979), "Properties of bond between concrete and
steel under load cycles idealizing seismic actions", Bulh, tin
d'lnformation 131, Comite Euro-lnternational du Beton,
Paris, 65.