CONCRETE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA - VICTORIA BRANCH

STUDENT FRAME COMPETITION 2021

Competition to predict the load capacity and failure mode of a concrete frame element

Objective
To perform a structural analysis using established methods to predict the load capacity of reinforced
structural concrete elements as close as possible to the failure load.
Background
The local council is planning to build a new skate ramp and bouldering wall. The design incorporates
a precast concrete C-frame as shown that combines the support for the skate ramp and the
bouldering wall.

A requirement is to maximise recycled materials in the project. Options to construct the C-frame
include:
• Standard concrete
• Recycled crumbed rubber (from car tyres) as aggregate, with standard steel
reinforcement
• Steel fibres in a standard concrete mix, with standard steel reinforcement. This is to
see if the steel fibres provide a benefit to the design.
The council needs more information to assist their decision. One item is the strength of the various
options.
The council plans to test three specimens to better understand their strength properties.
The three frames are shown on the below diagrams. Your task is to determine the load carrying
capacity of each frame (represented as the point load, P) and their failure mode.
Each frame will be load tested to check your results. The load test arrangement will mimic the load
arrangement on site as shown on the diagram below.

Frame 1 (80% weighting) Frame 2 (10% weighting) Frame 3 (10% weighting)

• Standard reinforced • Crumbed rubber as sand • Steel fibres

concrete
• 40MPa concrete
• 500 grade reinforcement
• Cover = 35mm
replacement • Dramix 5D 6560BG Fibres
• 40MPa concrete mix • 40MPa concrete
design prior to the • 500 grade reinforcement
inclusion of crumbed • Steel fibre content 30kg/m³
rubber. Refer guidance • Cover = 35mm
below
• 500 grade reinforcement
• Crumbed rubber content:
20% sand replacement
• Cover = 35mm

You realise that to calculate the load capacity, safety factors are not appropriate, and real material
properties should be used. You might want to consider the effects on strength at the frame corners.
You may research and investigate real material properties of materials. As a guide, real material
properties can be in the order of:

• Concrete: The design compressive strength shown above is for 28 days – Note that these frames
are planned to be tested at 28 days. Actual strength will typically be higher and you are required
to do some research to estimate the strength to use in your calculations.
• Reinforcing steel: Design tensile strength of 500 MPa – Actual strength varies from 550 MPa to
580 MPa.
• Guidance on the use of crumbed rubber:
o The use of crumbed rubber in concrete for structural use is not usually done. It is becoming
more common in pavements. The aim of this load test is to research its application in a
structural setting. The structural application has not yet been codified. Guidance on its use in
other engineering applications is available, such as ASTM D6270 - 20 Standard Practice for
Use of Scrap Tires in Civil Engineering Application and guidance on rubberised concrete in
pavements, such as Austroad 2009; RTA R83 2010
 o Typically, the use of crumbed rubber as fine aggregate replacement in concrete can assume
the same behaviour as conventional concrete, just with a percentage of sand replaced by
crumbed rubber.
o The chart below indicates the reduction in compressive strength due to the introduction of
crumbed rubber.

The beam dimensions and reinforcement for each beam is shown in the following diagrams.
Frame dimensions

Frame reinforcement
Entry Criteria
Entries will be accepted from groups of only undergraduate students (and masters students at
Melbourne University as part of their 5 year course) at the time of entry. The group size is limited to
between 2 and 5.

Prize
First Prize: $500 plus certificate

Rules
1. The concrete structural elements will be subjected to a constantly increasing load as shown in the
diagram. The load capacity is determined when the beam can no longer sustain the applied load.
Your entry is to include a failure load for each of the three concrete elements tested.
2. The results will be weighted with 80% weighting given to the standard reinforced concrete frame,
and 10% weighting to each of the other two frames.
3. Entry should contain detailed calculations clearly written. The use of concrete design software is
not permitted. A single pdf file containing the calculations needs to be emailed with other
information as outlined below.
4. First prize: The judging criteria is the predicted load capacity of the three concrete elements
based on the aggregated formula outlined in the entry form. Calculations must be readable with
the correct methodology.
5. The tests will be conducted by staff at Swinburne University’s Smart Structures Laboratory.
Depending on COVID-19 restrictions, there may not be an audience this year, therefore the tests
will be recorded with video and played back during a future webinar if we are unable to hold an in-
person event.
6. Entries close 11:59pm Sunday 24 October 2021. Late entries will not be accepted.
7. The entries shall be submitted by emailing to: vic@concreteinstitute.com.au with the subject line
“Student Frame Competition”
8. Entries must be in pdf format as a single document to be considered.
9. Judging panel’s decision will be final.
10. Winners will be notified during the webinar planned for Wednesday 27 October 2021 (subject to
change).
ENTRY FORM
CONCRETE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA - VICTORIA BRANCH

Competition to predict the load capacity of three concrete frame elements

Entry Form. This entry form is to be completed and submitted along with supporting
documentation as a single pdf document.

University Name:

Campus:

Student Names:

First Name Surname Signature

University Academic Staff Responsible for the student Group

Name:

Signature:

Date:
Summary of the Entry
Table to be completed by the entrants:
Predicted load
Beam
capacity
Frame 1
Frame 2
Frame 3
Note: Loads are to be in kN, to the nearest one decimal place.

Email the single PDF file containing this entry form and the calculations justifying the above values.

The winning entry will be calculated using the table below to obtain the best aggregate of the
predicted load capacities that are closest to the tested failure loads.

Predicted Tested load

Beam Weighting Difference* Score
load capacity capacity
Frame 1 PP PT w1 = 80% D = PP – PT S1 = w1 x D1 / PT1
Frame 2 PP PT w2 = 10% D = PP – PT S2 = w2 x D2 / PT2
Frame 3 PP PT w3 = 10% D = PP – PT S3 = w3 x D3 / PT3
Total = S1 + S2 + S3
* Note: The difference PP – PT will be taken as the absolute value (ignoring positive or negative).

The team with the lowest score who has submitted reasonable calculations will be the winner.