Wachamo Universty College of Engineering and Technology: March

WACHAMO UNIVERSTY
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
MSc PROPOSAL
FINITE-ELEMENT STUDY ON SIZE EFFECT IN REINFORCED

CONCRETE BEAM FAILING BY SHEAR
BY
DENEKE KIFLE
MARCH, 2023
HOSSAHNA, ETHIOPIA
FE-study on size effect in RC beam failing by shear 2023
Approval Sheet
This proposal is entitled Finite-element study on size effect in reinforced concrete beam
failing by shear has been developed by Deneke Kifle , under my supervision. Therefore, I
recommended that my proposal can be presented for review and open oral presentation.
Kabtamu (Ph.D.) -------------------------------- --------------------------- Advisor

Signature Date
Name of co-advisor---------------------- --------------------- Co-Advisor
Deneke kifle ------------------------------ --------------------- Student

Signature Date
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
WACHEMO UNIVERSITY
i|Page
Approval Sheet of Reviewed Proposal
Name of the candidate; Deneke Kifle
Department of Civil Engineering MSc program in structural engineering.
Thesis title; Finite-element study on size effect in reinforced concrete beam failing by
shear
Date Review; 15/07/2015
1. Comment on a proposal and open presentation

The following important comments were given by the reviews of a proposal such as
readjust the abstract location, add additional output parameters, and please put a list of figures
and a table on the different pages.
2. Suggestions made by the reviewers
It is better to follow WCU master thesis guideline to advance the proposal
3. Modification to be made
I strongly agree with the given comment and suggestion and made modifications to this
proposal and take a lesson for the future work.
4. Final decision made by reviewer/s
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
______
Name of reviewer/s___________________________________
Signature____________ Date______________
Signature____________ Date______________
Department head Jemal Dawd (Msc)
Signature____________ Date______________
ii | P a g e
List of Notations
DIC Digital Image Correlation
RC Reinforced Beam
SL Slender Beam
FEM Finite Element Method
EC Euro Code
ACI American Concrete Institute
FPZ Fracture Process Zones
Table of Content
iii | P a g e
s
List of Tables..............................................................................................................................9
List of Figures..........................................................................................................................10
Abstract....................................................................................................................................11
1 Introduction......................................................................................................................12
1.1 Backgrounds..............................................................................................................12
1.2 Statement of the problem...........................................................................................13
1.3 Objective of the study................................................................................................14
1.3.1 General objective...............................................................................................14
1.3.2 Specific objective...............................................................................................14
1.4 Research questions....................................................................................................14
1.5 Significant of the study..............................................................................................15
1.6 Scope and limitation..................................................................................................15
1.7 Expected results.........................................................................................................15
2 Literature Review.............................................................................................................16
2.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................16
2.2 Review related experimental studies on size effects in RC beam.............................16
2.3 The Size Effect in Shear failure.................................................................................17
2.3.1 Parameters Related to Size Effect......................................................................17
2.4 Research Gap.............................................................................................................21
3 Methodology....................................................................................................................22
3.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................22
3.2 Validation specimen details.......................................................................................22
3.2.1 Geometrical data................................................................................................22
3.2.2 Material property................................................................................................23
3.3 Finite Element Modeling...........................................................................................24
iv | P a g e
3.3.1 Material modeling..............................................................................................25
3.3.2 Loading and Boundary Conditions....................................................................25
3.4 Parametric study........................................................................................................26
4 Work plan.........................................................................................................................26
5 Financial Cost Break down..............................................................................................27
6 REFERENCE...................................................................................................................28
v|Page
List of figure
Figure 2-3: Influence of reinforcement on crack spacing, taken from Phillip, T., 2016..........18
Figure 2-4: Shear stress at failure versus a/d for beams of various depths (Kani, 1967).........19
Figure 2-5: Effect of size of the beam on the shear strength, taken from Ismail, 2016...........20
Fig. 1 beam detail (Syroka– Korol, J. Tejchman* 2013 Elsevier Ltd.)...................................22
List of Table
Table 3.1 Material property......................................................................................................22
Table 3.2 parametric matrix.....................................................................................................25
Table 4.1 Work plan.................................................................................................................25
Table 5.1 Cost breakdown........................................................................................................26
vi | P a g e
Abstract
The objective of this study will to investigate the size effect and a related description of shear
failure in slender reinforced concrete beams without shear reinforcement under bending using
a
finite element simulation. The beams considered have shear span to depth ratios ( =3 ¿ and
d
the overall depth varies from the 200 mm to 800 mm.
This paper will perform the result of finite element analysis RC slender beams without shear
reinforcement conduct on nine (9) simply supported reinforced concrete slender beams. The
analysis will perform principally to investigate the effect of beam depth (overall depth) on
shear failure of reinforced concrete slender beams.
The size effect of RC slender beams will including load-deflection curve, load-ultimate shear
strength curve, and plastic strain-ultimate shear stress curve, shear failure modes of models,
diagonal crack and ultimate shear strength, ultimate shear load capacity and diagonal strain
and shear ductility will be investigate.
Specifically, the study will identify the effect of span to depth ratio, arrangement of the bar
and effective reinforcement ratio on the reinforced concrete slender beam without shear
reinforcement in terms of load capacity, deformation, stress-strain curve, crack propagation
and shear capacity. Finally, compare the FE numerical results with the respective own
experimental test results.
Keywords, ABAQUS, RC (Reinforced Beam), SL (Slender Beam), FEM (Finite Element

Method) and Size effect
vii | P a g e
1 Introduction
1.1 Backgrounds
The size effect phenomenon in quasi-brittle structures is related to a transition from a

ductile behavior of small specimens to a totally brittle response of large ones. Thus, the
nominal strength σN decreases with increasing characteristic specimen dimension D. The
reasons for this behavior are: (a) intense strain localization regions with a certain volume (i.e.
micro-cracked damage regions – called also fracture process zones, FPZ) which precede
discrete macro-cracks; their size related to D contributes to a deterministic size effect and (b)
a spatial variability/randomness of local material properties contributing to a statistical size
effect that becomes dominant with increasing D. (Syroka-korol et al., 2014)
Size effect is the least studied parameter because of the difficulties in preparing and
testing large beams and such tests are generally expensive. The size effect essentially states
that the shear stress to cause failure of a reinforced concrete member decreases as the
effective depth increases (Kani, 1967).
A size effect in concrete elements denotes that both the nominal structural strength and
material brittleness (ratio between the energy consumed during the loading process after and
before the stress–strain peak) always decrease with increasing element size under tension
(Bažant, 1984) (Carpinteri, 1989) (Bazant & Planas, 1997). Thus, the concrete elements
become ductile on a small scale and perfectly brittle on a sufficiently large scale.
The randomness of material strength, which makes it more likely to encounter a material
point of lower strength in a larger structure, or the aggregate interlocking action, which
affects the shear strength while the interlocking action decreases as member size increases,
are two mechanisms that have been proposed to explain the size effect.
The tension-softening properties of plain concrete are thought to be the primary factor for the
size effect of concrete members. The size effect of concrete can be adequately explained by
the energy release produced by micro crack propagation.
Shear failure of reinforced concrete beams is a very complex phenomenon due to

involvement of too many parameters. One explanation behind this occurrence is that deeper
beams tend to have larger crack spacing’s and corresponding wider cracks that reduce the
effectiveness of aggregate interlock capacity, the principal shear transfer mechanism in these
1|Page
members. The influence of beam size on the shear strength of reinforced concrete structures
suggests that as the beam depth increases, there is a decrease in the shear strength of the
section (Mudesir & Ababa, 2019).
Engineers are concerned with the shear behavior of reinforced concrete elements because
shear failure of concrete structures often happens unexpectedly and results in catastrophic
failure. Several efforts have been made in experimental and analytical research to capture the
shear performance. Many experimental findings have demonstrated that member size has a
considerable impact on the shear capacity of reinforced concrete beams without stirrup, i.e.,
the nominal shear strength of a reinforced concrete member would gradually decrease as the
beam depth increases. This is called size effect on shear strength of reinforced concrete
structures.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Despite the vast research, there is still no recognized reasonable way to forecast the shear
strength and beam size effect on shear strength of reinforced concrete beams. The
fundamental issue with RC beams arises from the fact that a number of factors that affect
shear strength have left us with a limited understanding of shear failure mechanisms and the
ability to predict precise shear strengths. The design of RC slender beams is rather complex,
since the very behavior of these structural members is complex and is still not totally
clarified. Due to geometric proportions, the size effect of RC slender beams is governed
mainly by shear strength. Several parameters affect the strength of RC slender beams in
shear, which include shear span-to-depth ratio, concrete strength, anchorage of reinforcement
into the supports, size effect, amount and Loss of bond due to crack bar arrangement of
tensile and web reinforcement. The disturbance of internal stresses due to heavy concentrated
loads causes reduction of load carrying capacity of RC slender beams and when the depth
rises, it encourages an abrupt shear failure. A strong size effect also occurs in reinforced
concrete beams without shear reinforcement wherein diagonal shear–tensile fracture takes
place in concrete. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the effects of beam size on shear
resistance capacity and detail description of failure mechanism of reinforced concrete slender
beams.
2|Page
1.3 Objective of the study
1.3.1 General objective
The intention of this paper is to provide a FE study on size effect and a related
description of shear failure in slender reinforced concrete beams without shear
reinforcement under bending.
1.3.2 Specific objective
Points the innovative of our investigations are following:
 To investigate the effects of beam size on shear resistance capacity and detail
description of failure mechanism of reinforced concrete slender beams.
 To determine the effect of effective reinforcement ratio and steel bar arrangement
in reinforced concrete slender beam.
 The FE simulation results will compare with the respective own experimental test
results.
1.4 Research questions
 What is the effects of beam size on shear resistance capacity and detail description of
failure mechanism of reinforced concrete beams?
 How to determine the effect of effective reinforcement ratio and steel bar arrangement
on reinforced concrete slender beam?
 How to compare The FE numerical results with the respective own experimental test
results?
3|Page
1.5 Significant of the study
The result of this study will have a great contribution to extend the performance of
slender reinforced concrete beam without shear reinforcement in terms of load capacity,
reduce deformation and crack width in civil engineering structure and assures the
prediction of finite element model on the effects of RC beam size on shear. Thus, the
outcome of this study may bring as source of additional information for researchers and
for professional will provide better understanding in the design and practical application
on size effect in slender reinforced concrete beam without shear reinforcement.
1.6 Scope and limitation
This study will consider size effect and a related description of a shear failure mode in
reinforced concrete slender beams without shear reinforcement under bending. The
investigation will include the determination of the effect of span-to-depth ratio, bar
arrangement, effective reinforcement ratio and the effects of beam size on shear
resistance capacity and detail description of failure mechanism on reinforced concrete
slender beam without shear reinforcement with small, medium and large beam depth.
The research will revise the stated theories about, the size effects of reinforced concrete
rectangular beams and analysis in finite element model. The study will not consider other
section of beams.
1.7 Expected results
After the study of this research the expected outcomes are:

 Determination of the effects of beam size on shear resistance capacity and detail
description of failure mechanism of reinforced concrete beams.
 Determination of the effect of effective reinforcement ratio and steel bar arrangement
in reinforced concrete slender beam.
 Determination of the FE numerical results with the respective own experimental test
results.
4|Page
2 Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
A systematic literature review is presented herein that includes numerous contributions of

other researchers in the recent decade. Since this study is finite element study on size effect in
reinforced concrete beams failing by shear. The literature review will be focus in a size effect
on the shear strength of reinforced concrete (RC) beams without shear reinforcement. The
literature review aims to discuss the reaction of size effect to slender reinforced concrete
beam in terms of load -deflection and crack pattern and will notice the research gap.
2.2 Review related experimental studies on size effects in RC beam
The size effect is measured in terms of the nominal strength. Generally defined as ( σN=P/bd.
where P is the maximum (or ultimate) load (or load parameter), b is the structure width, and
d is the characteristic dimension (or size) of the structure. The size effect is characterized by
comparing (σN for geometrically similar structures of different sizes d. According to the
classical allowable stress design. as well as the theory of limit slates (or plastic limit analysis)
which underlies the current design codes for reinforced concrete structures, the nominal
strength σN is independent of the structure size. We say that in this case there is no size
effect. It has been generally proven that the size effect is absent from all structural analysis
methods in which the material failure at a point of the structure is decided exclusively by the
stress and strain tensors at that point, and that a size effect inevitably arises if the material
failure criterion involves energy. This is the case of fracture mechanics provided that, at
maximum load. The crack, or the fracture process zone (i.e., micro cracking zone), or both, is
not negligible compared to structure dimensions (Bažant & Yu, 2007).
All theories of failure that require some material characteristic length I show a size effect.
This is always the case when the fracture energy and stress are both part of the failure
criterion since the ratio of energy to stress per unit area has the dimension (Nm/m²/(N/m²)=m
now generally regarded as the best compromise between simplicity and accuracy (Bažant &
Yu, 2007).
5|Page
2.3 The Size Effect in Shear failure
The size effect essentially states that the shear stress to cause failure of a reinforced concrete
member decreases as the effective depth increases (Kani, 1967) . One explanation behind this
occurrence is that deeper beams tend to have larger crack spacing’s and corresponding wider
cracks that reduce the effectiveness of aggregate interlock capacity, the principal shear
transfer mechanism in these members. The shallower specimens were consistently able to
resist higher shear stresses than the deeper ones (Ghannoum, 1998).
As can be seen, crack spacing is nearly always related to member depth. Since the crack
width is estimated as a product of crack spacing and concrete strain, a larger crack spacing
results in wider cracks. One of the consequences of wider cracks is a reduction of interface
shear transfer, which is one of the mechanisms carrying shear in reinforced concrete
members. For normal strength concrete, the interface shear transfer is known as “aggregate
interlock” because along diagonal tension cracks aggregate particles protruding from the
surfaces of the cracks resist the slip of the cracks. The resistance provided by the aggregate
particles decreases as the cracks widen, which in turn reduces the shear produced at failure.
Most researchers agree that the broader cracks that occur in larger members are what cause
the size effect. The capacity of beams to control the distribution of cracks around the mid-
depth of the beams is severely constrained because they typically only have longitudinal
reinforcement at the top and bottom.
2.3.1 Parameters Related to Size Effect
Depth
Member size plays a significant role in determining the failure shear stress of member
without web reinforcement. This effect means that the shear strength of members doesn’t
increase linearly as the member depth increases. In other words, for deeper members, the
shear stress at failure is smaller than it is for smaller members. Extensive testing of reinforced
concrete beams has revealed that crack patterns are geometrically consistent across
specimens of varying cross-sectional dimensions(Collins et al., 2006).
Wider cracks translate to diminished aggregate interlocking capacity and hence lower shear
strength (Walraven, 1981). Additionally, deep beams demonstrated an evidently more brittle
nature than small specimens of similar geometric scale; Sherwood’s tests in 2008 revealed
6|Page
that shallower beams achieved more than twice the deformation capacity of their deep
counterparts.
Aggregate Size
Aggregate interlock relies on the interfacial shear transfer on a crack, and as a result, it is
heavily influenced by crack roughness. Irregularities on a crack surface arise from both the
coarse aggregate and inherent unevenness of the fractured cement paste. As such, the coarse
aggregate sizes, and implicitly the concrete strength, are responsible for the ability of a crack
to transfer shear stresses. Increasing coarse aggregate size up to 25 mm improves shear
resistance through the formation of rougher crack surfaces (ShenCao, 2001).
Bentz and Collins (2006) state that the effect of larger aggregate is more predominant in
deeper beams, due to the fact that aggregate interlock governs the shear capacity of such
members and aggregate is usually not scaled up with member depth. Beyond 25 mm,
experimental results from Sherwood (2008) indicate unpredictable outcomes of shear
strength, and thus aggregate larger than 25 mm should be taken as effectively 25 mm in size.
Higher strength concrete has stronger cementations paste that fractures a majority of the
aggregate at the crack interface, creating more even crack planes. These smooth cracks have a
severe reduction on shear stress transmissibility as the aggregate size will fundamentally be
rendered useless. In such cases, ag should be taken as zero (Ghannoum, 1998).
Crack Control Cracking is expected under service conditions for most, if not all, reinforced
and partially pre-stressed concrete structures; it allows for the reinforcement to be passively
engaged and enables more practical designs. Deep members without shear reinforcement tend
to have wider and more largely spaced cracks within the web as there is no steel in this region
to restrain crack growth through tension stiffening (See Figure 2.3). The lack of well
distributed reinforcement consequentially reduces aggregate interlock capacity on account of
wider crack widths over a larger portion of the crack.
7|Page
Figure 2-3: Influence of reinforcement on crack spacing, taken from Phillip, T., 2016
Crack control can be achieved by incorporating transverse reinforcement meeting the spacing
requirements prescribed by codes or alternatively through the use of distributed flexural skin
reinforcement. The latter specifically requires bars that can resist the increased demand at a
crack caused by the lack of concrete tensile contribution at these interfaces (Bentz and
Collins, 2006).
Longitudinal Reinforcement
Bearing resemblance to the influence of crack control on shear capacity, primary longitudinal
reinforcement also provides restraint to the widening of cracks. Although this is heavily
constrained to the region within the local tension stiffened vicinity of the bar, the effect of
larger reinforcement ratios results in smaller overall longitudinal strains and crack widths.
Crack spacing at the mid-depth of beams are therefore less affected by the amount of
longitudinal steel simply because of their distance away from the bars. As in the case of skin
reinforcement, higher ratios of longitudinal steel serve to increase aggregate interlock
capacity and enhance shear strength (ShenCao, 2001).
Previous Size Effect Investigations
Kani (1 966 and 1967) was amongst the first to investigate the effect of absolute member size
on concrete shear strength after the dramatic warehouse shear failures of 1955 (Collins and
Kuchma, 1997 and Collins and Mitchell, 1997). His work consisted of beams without web
reinforcement with varying member depths, d, longitudinal steel percentages, ρ, and shear
span-to-depth ratios, a/d. He determined that member depth and steel percentage had a great
effect on shear strength and that there is a transition point at a/d=2.5 at which beams are shear
critical (i.e. the value of the bending moment at failure was minimum) Figure 2.4 illustrates
the results obtained by Kani.
8|Page
Figure 2-4: Shear stress at failure versus a/d for beams of various depths (Kani,
1967)
In addition. Kani found a clearly defined envelope bounded by limiting values of p and a/d.
Inside this envelope diagonal shear failures are predicted to occur and outside of this
envelope flexural failures are predicted to occur. These conclusions regarding the influence
of both p and a/d were similar for al1 beam depths tested. Kani also looked at the effect of
beam width and found no significant effect on shear strength. Kani's work was summarized in
the textbook "Kani on Shear in Reinforced Concrete" (Kani et al. 1979)
Since Kani‟s early work in 1967 on reinforced concrete beams with different sizes, much
research has been undertaken to investigate the influence of size on the behavior and shear
strength of reinforced concrete beams. Figure 2-5 shows the experimental results of the
beams tested by Taylor, Bazant and Kazemi and Kim and Park, and it can be seen that by
increasing the member depth the shear strength reduces. In 2007, Bazant et al. explained that
though shear reinforcement can reduce the size effect in RC beams, it cannot eliminate size
effect completely.
9|Page
Figure 2-5: Effect of size of the beam on the shear strength, taken from Ismail, 2016.
2.4 Research Gap
Most researchers agree that wider cracks occurring in larger members because size effects.
The capacity of beams to control the distribution of cracks around the mid-depth of the beam
is severely limited because there are usually longitudinal reinforcements only at the top and
bottom.
Experimental results showed a large effect of size on nominal shear strength versus effective
beam height. The average nominal shear strength of the large beams was 40% smaller than
that of the small beams. In all RC beams, a combined diagonal shear–tensile (significantly
more tensile) and bond failure mode dominated, characterized by the development of a
critical diagonal shear–tensile crack connected with a horizontal splitting crack along the top
of the bottom longitudinal reinforcement toward the beam support (a shear–compression
failure mechanism did not occur in concrete). The failure mode proceeded in a brittle manner
in the post-critical stage. Strong size effects occur even in reinforced concrete beams without
shear reinforcement, causing diagonal shear tensile failure in concrete.
10 | P a g e
3 Methodology
3.1 Introduction
The study will plan to solve the problem by carefully revising the selected beam detail
and will follow the finite element producer. The study will define longitudinally
reinforced concrete slender beams without shear reinforcement were performed with 3
different beam sizes of a similar geometry from experiments by Syroka– Korol
3.2 Validation specimen details
3.2.1 Geometrical data
The FE-analyses of longitudinally reinforced concrete slender beams without shear

reinforcement will perform with 3 different beam sizes of a similar geometry from
experiments by Syroka–Korol. The beams had the same dimensions H*L as in the
experiments: 200*1500 mm² (small-size beam SL20), 400*3000 mm² (medium-size beam
SL40) and 800*6000 mm² (large-size beam SL80). All specimens had the constant
thickness t=200 mm and constant reinforcement percentage ρ=1%. The beams were
subjected to 4-point bending under the constant shear span to the effective depth ratio
a
=¿3. The specimens were cast from concrete C-35/45 of a maximum aggregate size 32
d
mm. The calculations were carried out with the characteristic length lc=5 mm based on
the experimentally measured mean width of localized tensile zones wloc by means of the
DIC technique equal to 20 mm. The bar diameters were ϕb=10 mm, 16 mm and 20 mm in
the beams SL20, SL40 and SL80, respectively, and ϕb=10 mm for the second
reinforcement layer in the large-size beam SL80.
Geometry and loading scheme of reinforced concrete slender beams without stirrups.
11 | P a g e
Cross-section of slender reinforced concrete beams with horizontal bars used in calculations
and experiments: (a) small-size SL20, (b) medium-size SL40 and (c) large-size SL80.
Fig. 1 beam detail (Syroka-korol et al., 2014)

3.2.2 Material property
The entire finite element beam model of this study will consider the material properties from
preselecting experimental work of (Syroka-korol et al., 2014)
Table 3.1 Material property
No Material properties Mpa
1 Characteristic compressive strength Fck = 35 MPa
2 Characteristic tensile strength Fctk = 2.2 MPa
3 Young modulus E = 34 GPa
4 Poisson's ratio ν= 0.2
5 Internal friction angle φ=141
6 dilatancy angle Ψ = 81
12 | P a g e
7 Yielding tensile strength of steel fy=500 MPa
8 elastic modulus Es=200 GPa
9 Poisson's ratio ν= 0.3
3.3 Finite Element Modeling
In recent years, a majority of numerical studies have been carried out on structural
members by finite element method (FEM) software such as ABAQUS, Vector 2, DIANA,
ANSYS, etc. In this study, one of the most powerful finite element software ABAQUS
(Simulia, 2017), was chosen to perform the nonlinear finite element analysis due to its
broad selection of nonlinear material models and its capacity to simulate one, two, and
three-dimensional models. The ABAQUS program suite includes three major products:
ABAQUS/CAE, ABAQUS/Standard, and ABAQUS/Explicit. The first product refers to
complete ABAQUS environment and is used to create, analyze, and visualize model
output all in one environment using a graphical user interface (GUI). ABAQUS/CAE
gives the option of creating the model geometries using the software drawing tools or
importing CAD models that have been prepared by another compatible products.
ABAQUS/Standard is generally used for finite element simulations of structures that are
subjected to static, cyclic and low-speed dynamic effects. ABAQUS/Explicit, on the other
hand, is used for transient dynamic and highly impact simulations. ABAQUS/CAE
supports both Standard and Explicit version for preprocessing and post-processing
simulations (Simulia, 2017)
The following sub-sections illustrate the necessary steps which include the material
constitutive models, selection of elements, meshing, boundary conditions, and the
solution method used to simulate the finite element model.
3.3.1 Material modeling
As mentioned above, ABAQUS is employed to investigate the effects of beam size on shear
failing of reinforced concrete slender beams without shear reinforcement with variation of
depth of the slender beam. In the investigation of the shear strength of the reinforced concrete
13 | P a g e
slender beams, the three dimensional ABAQUS model will develop by defining the concrete
beams, the steel reinforcing bars including the longitudinal as well as the horizontal and the
loads and supporting steel plates as individual sections.
3.3.2 Loading and Boundary Conditions
In ABAQUS, the load and boundary conditions can be specified using a series of steps
that can be used to develop new procedures. The first sort of step in ABAQUS is a
specific starting step called Initial, which is formed automatically at the start of the
model's phase. It is impossible to change or remove this phase once it has been generated
in a model. The analysis step, which comes after the initial step and can be produced
manually, is the second kind of phase. The analysis processes can be modified from step
to step and the model can include one or more analysis steps. By developing one or more
analysis steps, the loads, boundary conditions, and output requirements can be specified..
On the other hand, two kinds of the analysis step can be found in ABAQUS. The first is
the general analysis step which deals with the linear or nonlinear problems whereas the
second one is the linear perturbation steps which can analyses only linear behavior. In the
current model, the general analysis step was selected to prescribe the load, boundary
conditions and output requests. The general analysis step has a variety of methods to deal
with different problems such as the static general method, static Risks method, dynamic
methods and others. The static general method is used in the current research
investigation as it resulted in more accurate predictions with fewer convergence problems
when compared to other methods.
In terms of the boundary conditions, the one end-support was modeled to allow rotations
only but no horizontal or vertical movements whereas the second end-support was
modeled as a roller to allow rotation and horizontal movements along the length of the
beam. The load was defined as a displacement at the middle of the loading plate. The
failure load was then calculated by taking the summation of the reactions at the two
supports.
3.4 Parametric study
The study will consider constant the following affection factors on size effect of reinforced
a
concrete slender beams in all specimens. This study considers on span to depth ratio ( =3 ¿
d
14 | P a g e
because RC slender beam steel bar not constant reaction in shear capacity of beam in
different beam size.
Table 3.2 parametric matrix
Group Beam name a Beam size (h*t) mm

d
SL-20 Small size(200*200) mm
Slender beams
SL-40 3 Medium size(400*200) mm
SL-80 Large size(800*200) mm
4 Work plan
Table 4.1 Work plan
15 | P a g e
Year 2023
Months
No Task name
. March April may June July August September
1 Proposal preparation
2 Literature review
3 Methodology & revising

research questions
4 Modeling of the structure

in ABAQUS
5 Performing the analysis

and interpreting the result
6 Report writing
7 Compiling & submitting
8 Presentation
5 Financial Cost Break down
Table 5.1 Cost breakdown
Required Item units Quantity unit cost total cost
16 | P a g e
1.Transportation
Travel to Collect data trip 6 300 1800
2. Supplies (Material)
Paper Ream 6 250 1620
Color print Pages 30 20 600
Photocopying Pages 500 3 1500
Flash disk(32GB) No 2 600 1200
Rewritable disk CDs No 10 40 400
Hard disk (1T.B) No 1 4000 4000
Binding Document 5 100 500
3. Service
Internet service Monthly 7 1700 11900
Mobile card No 50 50 2500
Total 26,020
6 REFERENCE
Bažant, Z. P. (1984). Size effect in blunt fracture: concrete, rock, metal. Journal of
Engineering Mechanics, 110(4), 518–535.
Bazant, Z. P., & Planas, J. (1997). Fracture and size effect in concrete and other quasibrittle
materials (Vol. 16). CRC press.
17 | P a g e
Bažant, Z. P., & Yu, Q. (2007). Consequences of ignoring or mis-judging the size effect in
concrete design codes and practice. Concrete Technology (Taiwan), 1(1), 29–55.
Carpinteri, A. (1989). Decrease of apparent tensile and bending strength with specimen size:
two different explanations based on fracture mechanics. International Journal of Solids
and Structures, 25(4), 407–429.
Collins, W. D., Bitz, C. M., Blackmon, M. L., Bonan, G. B., Bretherton, C. S., Carton, J. A.,
Chang, P., Doney, S. C., Hack, J. J., & Henderson, T. B. (2006). The community climate
system model version 3 (CCSM3). Journal of Climate, 19(11), 2122–2143.
Ghannoum, W. M. (1998). Size effect on shear strength of reinforced concrete beams.
Kani, G. (1967). How safe are our large reinforced concrete beams? Journal Proceedings,
64(3), 128–141.
Mudesir, M., & Ababa, A. (2019). Size Effect on Shear Behavior of Reinforced Concrete
Beams with Shear Reinforcement A Thesis in Structural Engineering.
Syroka-korol, E., Tejchman, J., & Mróz, Z. (2014). FE analysis of size effects in reinforced
concrete beams without shear reinforcement based on stochastic elasto-plasticity with
non-local softening. Finite Elements in Analysis and Design, 88, 25–41.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.finel.2014.05.005
Walraven. (1981). 26.
18 | P a g e

Wachamo Universty College of Engineering and Technology: March

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Wachamo Universty College of Engineering and Technology: March

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

WACHAMO UNIVERSTY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

FINITE-ELEMENT STUDY ON SIZE EFFECT IN REINFORCED

Kabtamu (Ph.D.) -------------------------------- --------------------------- Advisor

Name of co-advisor---------------------- --------------------- Co-Advisor

Deneke kifle ------------------------------ --------------------- Student

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

Name of the candidate; Deneke Kifle

Department of Civil Engineering MSc program in structural engineering.

Date Review; 15/07/2015

1. Comment on a proposal and open presentation

Department head Jemal Dawd (Msc)

DIC Digital Image Correlation

FEM Finite Element Method

ACI American Concrete Institute

FPZ Fracture Process Zones

1.2 Statement of the problem...........................................................................................13

1.3 Objective of the study................................................................................................14

1.3.1 General objective...............................................................................................14

1.3.2 Specific objective...............................................................................................14

1.4 Research questions....................................................................................................14

1.5 Significant of the study..............................................................................................15

1.6 Scope and limitation..................................................................................................15

1.7 Expected results.........................................................................................................15

2.2 Review related experimental studies on size effects in RC beam.............................16

2.3 The Size Effect in Shear failure.................................................................................17

2.3.1 Parameters Related to Size Effect......................................................................17

2.4 Research Gap.............................................................................................................21

3.2 Validation specimen details.......................................................................................22

3.2.1 Geometrical data................................................................................................22

3.2.2 Material property................................................................................................23

3.3 Finite Element Modeling...........................................................................................24

3.3.2 Loading and Boundary Conditions....................................................................25

3.4 Parametric study........................................................................................................26

5 Financial Cost Break down..............................................................................................27

Fig. 1 beam detail (Syroka– Korol, J. Tejchman* 2013 Elsevier Ltd.)...................................22

Table 3.1 Material property......................................................................................................22

Table 3.2 parametric matrix.....................................................................................................25

Table 4.1 Work plan.................................................................................................................25

Table 5.1 Cost breakdown........................................................................................................26

Keywords, ABAQUS, RC (Reinforced Beam), SL (Slender Beam), FEM (Finite Element

The size effect phenomenon in quasi-brittle structures is related to a transition from a

Shear failure of reinforced concrete beams is a very complex phenomenon due to

1.2 Statement of the problem

1.3 Objective of the study

1.3.1 General objective

1.3.2 Specific objective

Points the innovative of our investigations are following:

1.4 Research questions

1.5 Significant of the study

1.6 Scope and limitation

1.7 Expected results

After the study of this research the expected outcomes are:

A systematic literature review is presented herein that includes numerous contributions of

2.2 Review related experimental studies on size effects in RC beam

2.3 The Size Effect in Shear failure

2.3.1 Parameters Related to Size Effect

Previous Size Effect Investigations

2.4 Research Gap

3.2 Validation specimen details

3.2.1 Geometrical data

The FE-analyses of longitudinally reinforced concrete slender beams without shear

Fig. 1 beam detail (Syroka-korol et al., 2014)