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A Strain Based Non-linear Finite Element Analysis of the Exterior Beam

Column Joint

Conference Paper · December 2014

DOI: 10.1007/978-81-322-2190-6_43

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A Strain Based Non-linear Finite Element
Analysis of the Exterior Beam Column
Joint

Shivaji T. Bidgar and Partha Bhattacharya

Abstract The aim of the present work is to study the behavior of an exterior RC
beam-column sub assemblage in a building frame. A nonlinear analysis is carried out
up to the yielding of the reinforcement both in compression and tension zone sub-
jected to monotonic loading. The analysis up to the failure of the exterior beam-
column joint is carried out using a FE based numerical model. A strain based
nonlinear finite element analysis program is developed using 2D plane stress for-
mulation, modified compression field theory, concept of equivalent principal strains,
smeared rotating crack approach and secant stiffness formulation in MATLAB
environment. The concrete is modeled as four node isoparametric plane stress ele-
ment and the reinforcement as two node bar element with two degrees of freedom at
each node. A perfect bond is assumed at the interface between the concrete and the
reinforcement. The load-deformation behavior of lower column, upper column and
the beam is measured and compared with the linear ANSYS model and are in well
agreement. Subsequently the variation in stresses and strains in the beam column
joint are obtained for nonlinear zone and are presented and discussed.

Keywords Reinforced concrete Nonlinear analysis Secant stiffness Plastic




hinge Finite element method Exterior beam column joint Monotonic load

1 Introduction

The study of RC structural frames under strong ground motion is a case of concern
for the structural engineers in general and that for researchers and disaster
mitigation agencies like FEMA, EERI, NICEE etc. in particular. The behavior of

S.T. Bidgar (&)
P. Bhattacharya

Department of Civil Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
e-mail: stbidgar@gmail.com
S.T. Bidgar
Applied Mechanics Department, Government Polytechnic, Osmanabad, Osmanabad, India

© Springer India 2015 529

V. Matsagar (ed.), Advances in Structural Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2190-6_43
530 S.T. Bidgar and P. Bhattacharya

beam-column joint under seismic load is a complex phenomenon. The major cause
for the collapse of structure is that the structural members fail to develop suitable
collapse mechanism reproducing ductile behavior. The formation of plastic hinges
at predetermined locations is very crucial issue with respect to collapse of structure.
The aim of capacity design approach is to avoid formation of plastic hinges in the
column except at the base of column and to develop the plastic hinges in the beams
near column face, which is predefined. This avoids column sway mechanism which
leads to collapse of structure. The capacity design procedure is based on strong
column weak beam philosophy to achieve the ductility and energy dissipation
mechanism under strong ground motion. From the study of recent earthquakes,
severe damage or collapse of many RC framed buildings is due to the poor rein-
forcement detailing of beam, column and beam-column joints. The inappropriate
transverse reinforcement and improper anchorage of longitudinal beam bars in
columns are the main reasons for failure. The integrity of beam-column joint should
be maintained throughout the loading history as it plays important role in ductile
moment resisting frames. Many international codes such as ACI 318-2002 NZS
3101-1995 and Euro-code 8 differ in their design approach of beam-column joint.
A literature study is carried out to assess the state-of-art of the reinforced con-
crete beam column joint of RC frame building. Experimental and numerical study
of exterior beam column joints of different sizes and varying reinforcement con-
figurations were carried out with different boundary conditions and loadings.
Kumar [1] carried out experimental investigations on cyclic behavior of lightly
reinforced beam to column joints. The beam-column joint sub-assemblages were
tested under monotonic and cyclic load applied at free end of beam with help of
actuator and load cell. The boundary conditions for four specimens were column
resting on strong floor and both ends fixed. Here the joint rotation is restricted and
for other specimens joint rotation was allowed. The test results indicate that
allowing free joint rotation is beneficial and leads to increase in ductility and energy
dissipation capacity. The use of cross reinforcement in the joint reduces the damage
in the joint region but stiffens the joint there by reducing the ductility and energy
dissipation capacity. The other observation recorded by Kumar was that the pres-
ence of axial load on the column increases strength and ductility and reduces the
damage in the joint region. A full scale RC exterior beam column joints fabricated
to simulate those in as built RC frame buildings designed to BS 8110 were tested by
Wong and Kuang [2] under reverse cyclic loading. They investigated seismic
behavior of non-seismically designed joints. The conclusions of their study were (1)
The beam-column depth ratio has a significant effect on strength and ductility of
beam-column joints. (2) Intermediate longitudinal reinforcement in the column
enhances the shear strength and improves the hysteretic behavior of the beam-
column joints. (3) Horizontal links in the beam-column joint cores improve the
seismic behavior and enhance the joint shear strength. The presence or absence of
column ties within the connection zone of a RC beam-column assemblage was
investigated by Scott et al. [3] and Hamil and Scott [4] using test results from
A Strain Based Non-linear Finite Element Analysis … 531

sixteen connection specimens. Eight specimens were made using high strength
concrete and the results were compared with those from a similar set of normal
strength concrete specimens. The initial joint cracking was strongly influenced by
the tensile strength of the concrete within the connection zone and the number of
connection zone ties did not affect the performance of the joint. Sharma et al. [5]
carried out an experimental and the numerical study of exterior beam column joints
designed for gravity loads only or designed based on code provisions from 1970 or
earlier. In their study emphasis was given to the formation of first diagonal crack in
the joint as a fundamental event. From this event the joint contribution to the global
deformation of the sub-assemblage start increasing significantly with consequent
decrease of strength and stiffness of the specimen.
The focus of the present study is to develop a strain based nonlinear finite
element analysis model for analysis of an exterior beam-column joint. The program
is developed in MATLAB (R2009a), using modified compression field theory [6],
smeared rotating crack model, material orthotropy, equivalent principal strains [7,
8] and secant stiffness approach. The model is capable of assessing location of
cracks and plastic hinges. It is also capable of assessing load at which the first crack
develop and the load at which subsequent cracks and plastic hinges develop.

2 Materials and Methods

2.1 Concrete Stress Strain Model

The stress-strain behavior of the concrete is different in tension and in compression

under uniaxial and biaxial loading. Hence the concrete in tension and compression
is modelled separately. The concrete for all purpose is assumed isotropic and linear
within the elastic range under monotonic loading. The stress-strain relation in the
tension is assumed linear up to maximum cracking stress and in the compression it
is linear up to 1/3 fc with constant value of modulus of elasticity Ec. When the
concrete is loaded beyond elastic range it is no more isotropic and the microcracks
develop in tension and compression. In this state the concrete behaves as two phase
system and it is assumed as orthotropic material. The nonlinear behavior of the
concrete in tension and compression is described by the equivalent principal strains
[7] in direction perpendicular to crack (tension) and parallel to crack (compression).
The stress-strain model used for the present nonlinear analysis is shown in Fig. 1.
The model in Fig. 1 is based on Vonk’s curve [9] in the compression and in the
tension it is bilinear model suggested by He et al. [8], with modeling of unloading
and reloading for tension stiffening effect. The details of the stress-strain relation-
ships and the nonlinear finite element formulations are given Bidgar and Bhat-
tacharya [10].
532 S.T. Bidgar and P. Bhattacharya

Fig. 1 Concrete stress strain model in tension and compression [12]

Fig. 2 Reinforcement stress

strain model [11]

2.2 Reinforcement Stress Strain Model

The stress-strain relationship for reinforcement in the concrete is assumed as elasto-

plastic with strain hardening as given by Wong and Vecchio [11] and the model is
shown in Fig. 2.

3 Numerical modeling of Exterior Beam-Column Joint

The numerical modeling of the exterior RC beam-column sub-assemblage under

monotonic loading is presented in this section. The modeling is based on a finite
element approach wherein the nonlinear behavior is analyzed using modified com-
pression field theory (MCFT) [6], equivalent principal strain concept [7], smeared
rotating crack model and the secant stiffness approach. The reinforcement bars are
modeled using one-dimensional bar element for axial behavior only. The exterior RC
beam-column sub-assemblage taken for numerical modeling is the one which is
tested by the Scott et al. [3], Hamil and Scott [4]. The sizes of beam and column along
with details of reinforcement are given in Table 1 and it is shown in Fig. 3.
A Strain Based Non-linear Finite Element Analysis … 533

Table 1 Details of beam-column joint sub-assemblage

Item Size in mm Main reinforcement Ties/stirrups
Beam 210 × 110 2 No. T16 at top and bottom 6 mm φ @ 125 mm c/c
each
Column lower 150 × 150 4 No. T16 6 mm φ @ 112 mm c/c
and upper

Fig. 3 Details of beam-

column joint [4] with
modified boundary condition
and loading
534 S.T. Bidgar and P. Bhattacharya

4 Finite Element Modeling

Reinforced concrete exterior beam column joint subjected to lateral loading is

numerically modeled and analyzed to observe the displacement behavior and the
cracking pattern. A plane stress condition is assumed for the present analysis and
the normal and shear stresses along z direction are assumed as zero. The concrete is
modeled as plane stress element and all reinforcement as discrete bar element. A
perfect bond is assumed at the interface between the concrete and the steel. The
finite element descretization of the beam-column joint is shown in the Fig. 4. An

Fig. 4 Finite element model

of beam-column joint
A Strain Based Non-linear Finite Element Analysis … 535

Table 2 Properties of
Sr. Description Value Unit
concrete and steel
No.
reinforcement
1 Compressive strength of 53.00 MPa
concrete
2 Tensile strength of concrete 2.70 MPa
3 Yield stress of main 460 MPa
reinforcement
4 Yield stress of ties and stirrups 250 MPa
5 Modulus of elasticity of 3.64e04 MPa
concrete
6 Modulus of elasticity of steel 2.0e05 MPa
7 Poisson’s ratio 0.15

axial load is applied at the top of upper column in single load step and then the
monotonic lateral load is applied at top upper left corner in several load steps and
points of application of load are shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The numerical analysis is
carried out to study the effect of axial load on failure pattern. The axial load of 0,
60, 120 kN was applied at the top of column and it is equally distributed among all
nodes. The lateral load along with the axial load is applied at upper top left corner
of the column monotonically. The properties of concrete and steel reinforcement
used in the present analysis are given in Table 2.
The boundary conditions for the beam-column sub-assemblage are as shown in
the Figs. 3 and 4. The top reinforcing bars of beam are bent down in the lower
column and bottom reinforcing bars are bent up in the upper column at 90° for
anchorage.

5 Validation With ANSYS

The exterior beam-column joint is modeled in ANSYS and same is modeled in

MATLAB. The concrete is model with PLANE-182 elements and reinforcement is
modeled with LINK-1 elements. Meshing was 6 × 30 for beam and lower and upper
column and in joint it is 6 × 6. The nodes of LINK-1 elements are concurrent with
nodes of PLANE-182 elements. Linear analysis is carried out with ANSYS soft-
ware and with the present MATLAB program developed by authors with identical
boundary conditions and loading. The schematic diagram of beam-column joint
which indicates the ANSYS nodes and MATLAB nodes is shown in Fig. 5. The
results of the deflection at some typical nodes are presented in Table 3.
536 S.T. Bidgar and P. Bhattacharya

Fig. 5 Schematic diagram

of beam-column joint
indicating ANSYS and
MATLAB nodes

Table 3 Deflection results

MATLAB ANSYS X displacements
obtained from ANSYS and
program node MATLAB ANSYS
present MATLAB program
node results results
1 1 −2.5122e−05 −2.4726e−05
7 2 −2.5111e−05 −2.47153e−05
679 470 +2.5089e−05 +2.4693e−05
673 500 +2.5100e−05 +2.4704e-05
Y displacements
217 8 −4.5525e−06 −4.4900e−06
439 218 −4.5525e−06 −4.4900e−06
247 260 −4.8551e−05 −4.7900e−05
469 290 −4.9139e−05 −4.8400e−05
A Strain Based Non-linear Finite Element Analysis … 537

6 Results and Discussion

The present study on nonlinear analysis of beam-column joint is based on the

previous work of nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete beam using secant
stiffness approach [10], which is validated with the past experimental and numerical
work and also with the experimental work done by the present authors. The non-
linear analysis of beam-column joint subjected to monotonic load at the beam tip
[12] was carried out and same is validated with experimental results of exterior
beam-column joint by Hamil and Scott [4]. Further more the results of present
linear analysis program developed by the authors in MATLAB (R2009a) are
compared with the ANSYS reulsts (see Table 3) and they are in well agreement.
The above mentioned program validated for linear and nonlinear analysis, is used
for the nonlinear analysis of an exterior beam-column joint subjected to axial load
and lateral load on the upper column as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The lower column
base nodes are locked for both the degrees of freedom i.e. x and y. The beam is
allowed to move horizontally while vertical movement at the tip of beam is
restricted. This is to simulate the seismic loading and seismic boundary conditions
in the numerical analysis of the joint. In the push-over analysis method, lateral loads
are assumed to be acting at each floor level in the RC frame structure. The present
beam-column joint sub-assemblage considered for the analysis is a section of full
frame. Here the lateral load is applied at quarter point i.e. at 0.75 m from face of
joint. The floor to floor height is assumed as 3.0 m. The effect of the lateral load is
to cause free joint rotation and formation of plastic hinges in the beam near face of
the column. The lower and upper column along with joint is subjected to lateral
displacement and concrete along with longitudinal reinforcement on outer face will
be subjected to tension and inner face under compression.
The results of numerical analysis with varying axial load on the column for three
different cases are given in Table 4. The results shown here are obtained from the
present program developed by authors. Due to singularity problem further load can
not be applied. The stiffness matrix becomes singular and hence the numerical
instability arises and program stops working.
The behavior of concrete in tension with progressive cracking and final cracking
is well modeled and shown in Fig. 6. Once the concrete finally cracks then there is
only rigid body motion and crack width goes on increasing. The ultimate cracking
strain when the concrete finally cracks is calculated from fracture energy concept
[13]. For the present numerical analysis the ultimate cracking strain is taken as
0.0013 and it is obtained from the numerical experiment done by authors and it is
given in the reference [12]. The numerical result of concrete in compression is
shown in Fig. 7. The stress-strain curve for beam bottom reinforcement near face of
column as obtained from numerical analysis is shown in Fig. 8. The load deflection
results of top left corner of upper column are shown in Fig. 9. The typical cracking
pattern of concrete in tension in beam-column sub-assemblage is shown in the
Fig. 10.
 538

Table 4 Results of varying axial load on exterior beam column joint subjected to lateral loading
Case Axial Lateral load Observed lateral Load at first crack Cracking of concrete No. of joint Failed joint ele-
load applied (kN) deflection (mm) in beam near face at base of column elements failed ment numbers
(kN) of column (kN)
I 0 39.4 14.04 12.1 Yes 05 125, 151, 152,
177, 203
II 60 39.4 13.51 11.6 No 05 125, 151,
152,177,203
III 120 39.4 13.47 11.1 No 06 125, 151,
152,177,203,
229
S.T. Bidgar and P. Bhattacharya
A Strain Based Non-linear Finite Element Analysis … 539

Fig. 6 Stress-strain curve for concrete in tension

Fig. 7 Stress strain curve for concrete in compression

From the above result it is observed that due to lateral loading on the column the
cracks are developed in the joint region and at the bottom of the beam starting from
the column face. The plastic hinge is formed in the beam bottom reinforcement near
the face of column. The typical cracking pattern of concrete in tension observed for
case II is shown in Fig. 10. For case I and case II there are cracks in the concrete at
540 S.T. Bidgar and P. Bhattacharya

Fig. 8 Stress-strain plot for beam bottom bar element near face of column

Fig. 9 Load deflection curve for upper column top left corner

the base of the lower column where there is no axial load or 50 % axial load.
For case III axial loading no cracks are observed at the base of lower column. As
the axial load increases, there is increase in the lateral load and lateral deflection.
A Strain Based Non-linear Finite Element Analysis … 541

Fig. 10 Cracking pattern of

concrete in tension under
axial load case II and lateral
load

7 Conclusion

From the results of present numerical analysis of the exterior beam column joint
subjected to axial load and lateral load, the following conclusions are drawn.
1. When there is no axial load on the column, the lateral load required to develop the
first tension crack at the bottom of beam near face of column is on higher side.
2. The cracking of concrete is observed at the base of lower column for the lower
axial load.
 542 S.T. Bidgar and P. Bhattacharya

3. The plastic hinges are formed in the beam bottom reinforcement near the face of
column.
4. The damage in the joint increases with the increase in axial load.

Acknowledgments The present work described in this paper was supported by All India Council
of Technical Education (AICTE) New Delhi, under the scheme of Quality improvement pro-
gramme (QIP)—Polytechnic and Higher and Technical Education Government of Maharashtra
Mumbai and Department of Civil Engineering, Jadavpur University Kolkata. All are gratefully
acknowledged.

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