Concrete Confinement by Reinforcement

• Concrete confined by fluid pressure. applies

approximately to concrete confined by circular spirals.
• Figure shows stress-strain curves obtained from three
sets of concrete cylinders confined by circular spirals.

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 Concrete Confinement by Reinforcement

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 Concrete Confinement by Reinforcement
• Tests have demonstrated that circular spirals confine concrete
much more effectively than rectangular or square hoops.

• The effect of the different transverse steel contents on the

ductility is quite appreciable as shown next, but the effect on
strength is much smaller.

• The reason for the considerable difference between the

confinement by circular steel spirals and confinement by
rectangular or square steel hoops is
illustrated in Figure after next slide.

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 Concrete Confinement by Reinforcement

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 Concrete Confinement by Reinforcement

• The shape of the stress-strain curve at high strains is a function

of many variables, the major ones are:
1. The ratio of the volume of transverse steel to the volume of the
concrete core.
2. The yield strength of the transverse steel, because this gives an
upper limit to the confining pressure.
3. The ratio of the spacing of the transverse steel to the
dimensions of the concrete core, because a smaller spacing
leads to more effective confinement.
4. The ratio of the diameter of the transverse bar to the
unsupported length of transverse bars in the case of
rectangular stirrups or hoops, because a larger bar diameter
leads to more effective confinement. In the case of a circular
spiral this variable has no significance.
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 Concrete Confinement by Reinforcement

• 5. The content and size of longitudinal reinforcement,

because this steel will also confine the concrete.
Longitudinal bars are usually of large diameter, and the
ratio of bar diameter to unsupported length is generally
such that the bars can effectively confine the concrete.
• 6. The strength of the concrete, because low-strength
concrete is rather more ductile than high-strength
concrete
• 7. The rate of loading, because the stress-strain
characteristics of concrete are time dependent.
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 Concrete Confinement by Reinforcement

• Outside the transverse steel the concrete is not

confined, and this cover or shell concrete can be
expected to have stress-strain characteristics
different from that of the concrete within the
transverse steel.

• The cover concrete generally commences to spall

when the unconfined strength is reached,
particularly if the content of transverse steel is
high, because the presence of a large number of
transverse bars creates a plane or surface of
weakness between the core and the cover
concrete.
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 Concrete Confinement by Reinforcement

• Thus for high transverse steel contents the

contribution of the cover concrete at high strains
should be ignored. The cover concrete could be
assumed to have the characteristics of unconfined
concrete up to an assumed spalling strain and to
make no contribution at higher strains.
• If the transverse steel content is low, the cover
concrete will tend to spall less readily and will tend
to act more with the confined core.

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 Concrete Confinement by Reinforcement

• Some proposals for the strength and ductility of

concrete confined by reinforcement are:
• Concrete Confined by Circular Spirals
• Assuming that the spirals are sufficiently close to apply
a near-uniform pressure. the confining pressure may
be calculated from the hoop tension developed by the
spiral steel. If ds is the diameter of the spiral, Asp is the
area of the spiral bar, and s is the pitch of the spiral:

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 Concrete Confined hy Rectangular Hoops

• Various investigators have proposed stress-strain

relationships for concrete confined by rectangular
hoops.
• On the basis of the existing experimental evidence,
Kent and Park have proposed the stress-strain curve in
Figure after next slide for concrete confined by
rectangular hoops.

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 Concrete Confined hy Rectangular Hoops

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 Concrete Confined hy Rectangular Hoops

• Refer to equations 2.7-2.10 in textbook

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 Shrinkage
• When concrete loses moisture by evaporation, it shrinks. If restrained,
shrinkage strain, can cause cracking of concrete and will generally
cause the deflection or structural members to increase with time.

• A curve showing the Increase in shrinkage strain with time appears

next slide. The shrinkage occurs at a decreasing rate with time. The
final shrinkage strain vary greatly, being generally in the range 0.0002
to 0.0006, but sometimes as much as 0.001.
Shrinkage
 Shrinkage

• Shrinkage is to a large extent a reversible

phenomenon. If the concrete is saturated with water
after it has shrunk, it will expand to almost its original
volume. Thus alternating dry and wet conditions will
cause alternating volume changes of concrete. This
phenomenon is partly responsible for the fluctuating
deflections of structures (e.g., concrete bridges)
exposed to seasonal changes each year.
• As a rule, concrete that exhibits a high creep also
displays high shrinkage.
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 Creep

• The stress-strain relationship of concrete is a function

of time. Concrete under stress undergoes a gradual
increase of strain with time because of creep
deformations of the concrete. The final creep strain
may be several times as large as the initial elastic
strain.

• Generally creep has little effect on the strength of a

structure, but it will cause a redistribution of stress in
reinforced concrete members at the service loads, and
lead to an increase in the service load deflections.
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 Creep

• Creep deformations are beneficial in some cases (e.g.

concrete stresses due to differential settlement of
structures are reduced by creep).

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 Creep

• The creep deformation of concrete under constant

axial compressive stress is illustrated in Figure next
slide:
1. The creep proceeds at a decreasing rate with time. If
the load is removed, the elastic strain is immediately
recovered. However, this recovered elastic strain is less
than the initial- elastic strain because the elastic
modulus increases with age. The elastic recovery is
followed by a creep recovery, which is a small
proportion of the total creep strain.
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 Creep

2. Experimental evidence indicates that the creep strain

occurring over a given period is proportional to the applied
stress, provided the stress level is not high. Research
evidence is conflicting with respect to the stress level at
which the linearity between creep and applied stress
ceases. Some research indicates loss of linearity at
compressive stresses as low as 0.2fc; other data suggest a
value as high as 0.5fc. However, the assumption of a linear
relationship between creep strain and applied stress for the
usual range of service load stresses used in structural
design results in acceptable accuracy.

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 Creep
• Deformations (strains) under sustained loads.
• 2-3 times elastic strain if loads are sustained for
a very long time.

P
L, elastic
L, creep
L

P
strain=L/L
 Creep

• It must be borne in mind that although the ACI

approach is based on a comprehensive review of the
literature, the problem is essentially a statistical one,
since the scatter of test data and actual values may
show significant variations from the mean values
proposed.
• This is why in local practice we see differences in
opinion in service load deflections.

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 Steel Reinforcement
Stress versus Strain
A. Stress-Strain curve for various types of steel
reinforcement bars are shown below.
B. Stress-Strain curve for compression assumed to have
the same characteristics as steel in tension.
 Steel Reinforcement

• For steels lacking a well-defined yield point, the

yield strength is taken as the stress corresponding
to a strain of 0.005 for Grades 40, 50, and 60, and
0.0035 for Grade 75.

• The minimum strain in the steel at fracture is also

defined in steel specifications, since it is essential
for the safety of the structure that the steel be
ductile enough to undergo large deformations
before fracture (ranges from at least 4.5 to 12%).
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 Steel Reinforcement

• The specified yield strength normally refers to a guaranteed

minimum.
• The actual yield strength of the bars is usually somewhat higher
than this specified value. In some cases (e.g., in the assessment
of the seismic strength of members) it is undesirable to have a
yield strength much higher than that considered in the design.
This is because the increased flexural strength of a member, for
example, will produce increased shear forces acting on the
member at ultimate load, which could result in a brittle shear
failure of the member rather than a ductile flexural failure.

• Therefore, specifications for steel used in structures in seismic

zones should also require that a certain yield strength for a
given grade of steel not be exceeded

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 Steel Reinforcement
• Generally the stress-strain curves for steel in
tension and compression are assumed to he
identical. Tests have shown that this is a
reasonable assumption.

• The effect of a fast rate of loading is to increase the

yield strength of steel. For example, it has been
reported that for a strain rate 0.01/sec the lower
yield strength may be increased by up to 14%.

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 Steel Reinforcement
• In design it is necessary to idealize the shape of the
stress-strain curve.

• Generally the curve is simplified by idealizing it as

two straight lines, as in Fig. (a). If the plastic strain,
which occurs at near-constant stress after yielding,
is much greater than the elastic extension at yield,
this assumed curve gives a very good accuracy. This
simplification is particularly accurate for steel
having a low yield strength.

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 Steel Reinforcement

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 Steel Reinforcement

• If the steel strain hardens soon after the onset of

yielding, this assumed curve will underestimate the
steel stress at high strains.
• In some cases it may be necessary to evaluate the
steel stress at strains higher than yield, to more
accurately assess the strength of members at large
deformations. This is particularly true in seismic
design, where ductility requirements may mean
considering the possibility of reaching strains many
times the yield strain.
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 Steel Reinforcement

• More accurate idealizations usable for the stress

strain curve are given in Figs. (b) and (c). Values for
the stresses and strains at the onset of yield, strain
hardening, and tensile strength are necessary for
use of such idealizations. These points can be
located from stress-strain curves obtained from
tests.

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 Steel Reinforcement

– Es = Initial tangent modulus = 200,000MPa (all grades)

– Note: GR40 has a longer yield plateau
Hence, the idealized stress‑strain curve for steel is as
shown in Figure.
 Steel Reinforcement: Repeated Stress Behavior

• If the load is released before failure, the specimen will recover

along a stress-strain path that is parallel to the original elastic
portion of the curve. If loaded again, the specimen will follow
the same path up to the original curve.
• The virgin curve is then closely followed, as if unloading had not
occurred. Hence the monotonic stress-strain curve gives a good
idealization for the envelope curve for repeated loading of the
same sign.

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 Steel Reinforcement Reversed Stress Behavior

• If reversed (tension-compression) axial loading is

applied to a steel specimen in the yield range, a
stress-strain curve of the type presented in Figure
next slide is obtained. The figure shows the
Bauschinger effect, in which under reversed
loading the stress-strain curve becomes nonlinear
at a stress much lower than the initial yield
strength.

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 Steel Reinforcement Reversed Stress Behavior

• This steel behavior is strongly influenced by

previous strain history; time and temperature also
have an effect. The unloading path follows the
initial elastic slope. The often-used elastic-perfectly
plastic idealization for reversed loading (Fig (b)) is
only an approximation.

• Reversed loading curves are important when

considering the effects of high intensity seismic
loading on members.
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