• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.1 no.2 s.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2001

A stress-strain relationship for reinforced concrete membrane elements subjected to reversed cyclic loading is quite different to that of concrete cylinder subjected to uniaxial compression. The compressive strength of cracked concrete membrane elements is reduced by cracking due to tension in the perpendicular direction. Based on the three reinforced concrete panel tests, a softened stress-strain curve of concrete subjected to reversed cyclic loading is proposed. The proposed model consists of seven stages in the compressive zones and six stages in the tensile zones. The proposed model is verified by comparing to the test results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.533-543
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• 2000

To prevent major cracking and failure during earthquakes, it is important to design reinforced concrete liquid storage structures, such as water and fuel storage tanks, properly for the hydrodynamic pressure loads caused by seismic excitations. There is a discussion in recent Codes that most of the base shear applied to liquid containment structures is resisted by inplane membrane shear rather than by transverse flexural shear. The purpose of this paper is to underline the importance of the membrane force system in carrying the base shear produced by hydrodynamic pressures in both rectangular and cylindrical tank structures. Only rigid tanks constrained at the base are considered. Analysis is performed for both tall and broad tanks to compare their behavior under seismic excitation. Efforts are made to quantify the percentage of base shear carried by membrane action and the consequent procedures that must be followed for safe design of liquid containing storage structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.599-608
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• 1997

The concrete stiffness matrices of membrane elements used in the finite element analysis of wall-type structures are reviewed and discussed. The behavior of cracked reinforced concrete membrane elements is first described by summarizing the constitutive laws of concrete and steel established for the two softened truss models (the rotating-angle softened-truss model and the fixed-angle softened-truss model). These constitutive laws are then related to the concrete stiffness matrices of the two existing cracking models (the rotating-crack model and the fixed-crack model). In view of the weakness in the existing models, a general model of the matrix is proposed. This general matrix includes two Poisson ratios which are not clearly understood at present. It is proposed that all five material properties in the general matrix should be established by new biaxial tests of panels using proportional loading and strain-control procedures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.325-354
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• 2004

Slabs in buildings and bridge decks, which are restrained against lateral displacements at the edges, have ultimate strengths far in excess of those predicted by analytical methods based on yield line theory. The increase in strength has been attributed to membrane action, which is due to the in-plane forces developed at the supports. The benefits of compressive membrane action are usually not taken into account in currently available design methods developed based on plastic flow theories assuming concrete to be a rigid-plastic material. By extending the existing knowledge of compressive membrane action, it is possible to design slabs in building and bridge structures economically with less than normal reinforcement. Recent research on building and bridge structures reflects the importance of membrane action in design. This paper describes the finite element modelling of membrane action in reinforced concrete slabs through optimisation of a simple concrete model. Through a series of parametric studies using the simple concrete model in the finite element simulation of eight fully clamped concrete slabs with significant membrane action, a set of fixed numerical model parameter values is identified and computational conditions established, which would guarantee reliable strength prediction of arbitrary slabs. The reliability of the identified values to simulate membrane action (for prediction purposes) is further verified by the direct simulation of 42 other slabs, which gave an average value of 0.9698 for the ratio of experimental to predicted strengths and a standard deviation of 0.117. A 'deflection factor' is also established for the slabs, relating the predicted peak deflection to experimental values, which, (for the same level of fixity at the supports), can be used for accurate displacement determination. The proposed optimised concrete model and finite element procedure can be used as a tool to simulate membrane action in slabs in building and bridge structures having variable support and loading conditions including fire. Other practical applications of the developed finite element procedure and design process are also discussed.

• KCI Concrete Journal
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.53-64
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• 1999

A theory is proposed to predict the response of the load-deformation relationship of the reinforced concrete structures under the service state after cracking. The crack direction and concrete strains through the loading history before failure can be estimated by this theory based on the rotating crack model, which considers equilibrium, compatibility conditions, and average stress-strain relationship. The proposed crack direction and deformation show good agreement with test results under service state. The behavior of a variety of concrete structures, such as shear walls, deep beams and the web of box girders, can be predicted by this proposed theory under service state.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.469-484
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• 2023

The response mechanism of simply supported two-way reinforced concrete (RC) slabs under fire was numerically studied from the view of stress redistribution using the finite element software ABAQUS. Results show that: (1) Simply supported two-way RC slabs undergo intense stress redistribution, and their responses show four stages, namely elastic, elastic-plastic, plastic and tensile membrane stages. There is no cracking in the fire area of the slabs until the tensile membrane stage. (2) The inverted arch effect and tensile membrane effect improve the fire resistance of the two-way slabs. When the deflection is L/20, the slab is in an inverted arch effect state, and the slab still has a good deflection reserve. The deformation rate of the slab in the tensile membrane stage is smaller than that in the elastic-plastic and plastic stages. (3) Fire resistance of square slabs is better than that of rectangular slabs. Besides, increasing the reinforcement ratio or slab thickness improves the fire resistance of the slabs. However, an increase of cover thickness has little effect on the fire resistance of two-way slabs. (4) Compared with one-way slabs, the time for two-way slabs to enter the plastic and tensile cracking stage is postponed, and the deformation rate in the plastic and tensile cracking stage is also slowed down. (5) The simply supported two-way RC slabs can satisfy with the requirements of a class I fire resistance rating of 90 min without additional fire protection.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.691-704
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• 2014

Reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls are commonly used for building structures to resist seismic loading. While the RC shear walls can have a high load-carrying capacity, they tend to fail in a brittle mode under shear, accompanied by forming large diagonal cracks and bond splitting between concrete and steel reinforcement. Improving seismic performance of shear walls has remained a challenge for researchers all over the world. Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC), featuring incredible ductility under tension, can be a promising material to replace concrete in shear walls with improved performance. Currently, the application of ECC to large structures is limited due to the lack of the proper constitutive models especially under shear. In this paper, a new Cyclic Softening Membrane Model for reinforced ECC is proposed. The model was built upon the Cyclic Softening Membrane Model for reinforced concrete by (Hsu and Mo 2010). The model was then implemented in the OpenSees program to perform analysis on several cases of shear walls under seismic loading. The seismic response of reinforced ECC compared with RC shear walls under monotonic and cyclic loading, their difference in pinching effect and energy dissipation capacity were studied. The modeling results revealed that reinforced ECC shear walls can have superior seismic performance to traditional RC shear walls.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.351-360
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• 2017

This paper presents an efficient membrane finite element for the cyclic inelastic response analysis of RC structures under complex plane stress states including shear. The model strikes a balance between accuracy and numerical efficiency to meet the challenge of shear wall simulations in earthquake engineering practice. The concrete material model at the integration points of the finite element is based on damage plasticity with two damage parameters. All reinforcing bars with the same orientation are represented by an embedded orthotropic steel layer based on uniaxial stress-strain relation, so that the dowel and bond-slip effect of the reinforcing steel are presently neglected in the interest of computational efficiency. The model is validated with significant experimental results of the cyclic response of RC panels with uniform stress states.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.3 no.6
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• pp.439-454
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• 2006

This paper develops an artificial neural network (ANN) model for uniformly loaded restrained reinforced concrete (RC) slabs incorporating membrane action. The development of membrane action in RC slabs restrained against lateral displacements at the edges in buildings and bridge structures significantly increases their load carrying capacity. The benefits of compressive membrane action are usually not taken into account in currently available design methods based on yield-line theory. By extending the existing knowledge of compressive membrane action, it is possible to design slabs in building and bridge decks economically with less than normal reinforcement. The processes involved in the development of ANN model such as the creation of a database of test results from previous research studies, the selection of architecture of the network from extensive trial and error procedure, and the training and performance validation of the model are presented. The ANN model was found to predict accurately the ultimate strength of fully restrained RC slabs. The model also was able to incorporate strength enhancement of RC slabs due to membrane action as confirmed from a comparative study of experimental and yield line-based predictions. Practical applications of the developed ANN model in the design process of RC slabs are also highlighted.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.541-561
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• 2011

The Finite Element Method (FEM) was employed to demonstrate that accurate simulations of seismically repaired and retrofitted reinforced concrete shear walls can be achieved provided a good analysis program with comprehensive models for material and structural behaviour is used. Furthermore, the analysis tool should have the capability to retain residual damage experienced by the original structure and carry it forward in the repaired and retrofitted structure. The focus herein is to provide quick, simple, but reliable modelling procedures for repair and retrofitting strategies such as concrete replacement, addition of diagonal reinforcing bars, bolting of external steel plates, and bonding of external steel plates and fibre reinforced polymer sheets, thus illustrating versatility in the modelling. Slender, squat, and slender-squat shear walls were investigated. The modelling utilized simple rectangular membrane elements for the concrete, truss bar elements for the steel and FRP retrofitting materials, and bond-link elements for the bonding interface between steel or FRP to concrete. The analyses satisfactorily simulated seismic behaviour, including lateral load capacity, displacement capacity, energy dissipation, hysteretic response, and failure mode.