6.

1 Nodal Extrapolation
305
Chapter 6 Post-
Processing
Facilities
6.1 Nodal Extrapolation
In elements formulated using numerical integration, the stresses are obtained by
integrating the constitutive relationship at the element Gauss points. Nodal stresses are
then obtained by extrapolation from the Gauss points. This is achieved by
1. Defining a fictitious element with nodes at the element Gauss points
2. Extrapolating the stress or strain to the nodal points of the real element using the
shape functions of the fictitious element, i.e.

i
i i I
I
N
i i
i
N , , 1 6 1 6 =
=

1
(6.1-1)

i
i i I
I
N
i i
i
N , , 1 6 1 6 =
=

1
(6.1-2)
where N is the number of Gauss points, and subscripts i and I denote nodal and
Gauss point values respectively. The averaged nodal stresses are then obtained by
evaluating the mean of the extrapolated nodal values.

Notes
q For shell elements, the local Gauss point stresses and strains are transformed to
global stresses and strains before extrapolation to the nodes. The mean global
stresses are then transformed to the local shell system at the nodal point before
evaluation of the nodal stress resultants.
q For elements with a single Gauss point, the stresses and strains are assumed to
be constant over the element.
Chapter 6 Post-Processing Facilities
306
q Stress extrapolation cannot be utilized with the 13-point and 14-point
integration rules of the solid elements (HX16,HX20).

6.2 Wood-Armer Reinforcement
This facility permits the evaluation of the moments of resistance required in the
reinforcement of reinforced concrete slabs. The moment field for the slab is
determined by performing an elastic analysis. The design moments are then evaluated
using the methods proposed by Wood [W4] for orthogonal reinforcement and Armer
[A4] for skew reinforcement. These calculations may be applied to plates, shells and
grillage elements. For shell elements the bending and in-plane effects are combined
using the method described by Clark [C12]. An approximate approach is also
available for grillage elements [W5] whereby bending and twisting moments are
converted into equivalent plate moments so that the Wood-Armer equations can then
be used.
6.2.1 General Approach for Wood-Armer Calculations
The Wood-Armer equations were originally developed to design reinforced concrete
slabs where the bending-moment field is known [W4, A4]. However, the method can
also be used when the slab is required to withstand in-plane and flexural deformations.
The theory is given for in-plane effects, however, the equations for bending effects
can be derived in a similar manner.
Consider a slab subject to the in-plane forces N
x
, N
y
and N
xy
as shown in (fig.6.2-1).

x
y
n
t
N
y
N
x
N
xy
N
xy
A
x
A
y
h

failure cracks
FIG.6.2-1 SLAB SUBJECTED TO IN-PLANE FORCES
If the tension design stress at the ultimate limit state of the reinforcement is f and the
reinforcement areas are A
x
and A
y
, the reinforcement forces are:
6.2 Wood-Armer Reinforcement
307
N A f
x x s
*
= (6.2-1)
N A f
y y s
*
= (6.2-2)
For a failure of the slab by yield, associated with the opening of cracks, at a certain
direction n (given by the angle , see (fig.6.2-1)), the resistive force may be expressed
as:
N N N
n x y
* * *
cos sin = +
2 2
(6.2-3)
while the applied force in the same direction is
N N N N
n x y xy
= + cos sin sin cos
2 2
2 (6.2-4)
For equilibrium the resistive and applied forces must be the same, i.e.,
N N
n n
*
= (6.2-5)
which leads to the yield criterion for the slab:
N N N N N
x x y y xy
* *
=
4 94 9
2
(6.2-6)
This equation can also be expressed in the form:
N N N k
x x xy
*
= (6.2-7)
N N N k
y y xy
*
= (6.2-8)
where k = tan. In principle, any value for k can be chosen and an infinite number of
possible combinations of N
x
*
and N
y
*
capable of resisting a particular set of applied
forces exists. For design purposes, however, if the values for N
x
, N
y
and N
xy
are
known a value of (or k) may be established by making ( N
x
*
+ N
y
*
) a minimum, hence
minimising the steel requirement. The minimum k factor for orthogonal reinforcement
is 1 or = 45. For skew reinforcement, the minimum k factor depends upon the
direction of the reinforcement. From the obtained k, the minimum required resistive
forces can be computed.
Note that all the above calculations can be reproduced for a slab subjected to a general
set of bending and twisting moments (M
x
, M
y
and M
xy
). In addition to the forces
obtained above, an extra expression for the concrete force acting parallel to the failure
cracks is computed from the equilibrium in the z-direction and is derived via the
minimised values of N
x
*
and N
y
*
. This value can be used to predict failure in the
concrete.
Chapter 6 Post-Processing Facilities
308
6.2.2 Bending and n-plane Force Combination
For shell structures the design of reinforcement to resist both bending and membrane
effects has to be addressed. One of the design solutions is to convert the bending
forces into in-plane forces and compute the resistive forces as shown in the previous
section. In order to obtain the equivalent in-plane forces from the applied moments, it
is necessary to establish the distances between the centroid of the reinforcements and
the middle surface of the slab (i.e., besides the thickness of the slab, c
b
and c
t
in
(fig.6.2-2) are also required). For example, if a section of a slab is subjected to a
moment M
x
and an in-plane force N
x
as shown in (fig.6.2-2), the reinforcement
should be designed to resist the following load in the bottom and in the top of the slab:
N M N d d
xb x x t
= + 1 6 / (6.2-9)
N M N d d
xt x x b
= + 1 6 / (6.2-10)
Note that similar equations will be obtained for the other applied forces.

N
xt
c
t
N
x
N
xb
M
x
c
b
d
d
b
d
t
FIG.6.2-2 BENDING AND IN-PLANE FORCES FOR SHELLS
6.2.3 Wood Armer for Grillages
To use the Wood-Armer equations for grillages the bending and twisting moments
obtained for the grillage have to be converted into equivalent plate moments in global
directions [W5]. The plate moments can then be used directly in the Wood-Armer
calculations. An extra geometric property (effective width) has to be defined for the
grillage to compute the equivalent moments.
6.2 Wood-Armer Reinforcement
309

a
x
y
b

1
1
2
3
4
FIG.6.2-3 EQUIVALENT PLATE MOMENTS FOR GRILLAGE ELEMENTS
The calculation of equivalent moments for the grillage shown in (fig.6.2-3) is given
below:
Consider the grillage moments acting on node A:
element M
b ba
1
1 1
: , M (6.2-11)
element 2 M
x xy
: , M
2 2
(6.2-12)
element 3 M
b ba
: , M
3 3
(6.2-13)
element 4 M
x xy
: , M
4 4
(6.2-14)
The contribution of the elements 1 and 3 have to be transformed into the global x-y
directions, hence:
M M M
y ba b
1 1
1
1
1
= + sin cos (6.2-15)
M M M
yx ba b
1 1
1
1
1
= + cos sin (6.2-16)
and
M M M
y ba b
3 3
3
3
3
= + sin cos (6.2-17)
M M M
yx ba b
3 3
3
3
3
= + cos sin (6.2-18)
The equivalent plate moments used for the Wood-Armer calculations are computed as
below:
Chapter 6 Post-Processing Facilities
310
M
M
W
M
W
y
x x
=

"
$
#
#
1
2
2
2
4
4
(6.2-19)
M
M
W
M
W
x
y y
=

"
$
#
#
1
2
1
1
3
3
(6.2-20)
M M M
M
W
M
W
M
W
M
W
xy xy yx
xy yx yx yx
= =

"
$
#
#

"
$
#
#

"
$
#
#
1
2
1
4
4
4
2
2
3
3
1
1
3 8
(6.2-21)
where W
i
is the effective width of element i.
It should be noted that the above transformation is only a valid approximation for a
small mesh skew angle. In the current implementation, however, the approach adopted
is that if the skew angle of the grillage is less or equal to 45 degrees, the moments are
transformed into the x direction; otherwise, the moments are transformed into the y
direction. If two elements are placed in such a way that both form angles smaller than
45 degrees or both form angles greater than 45 degrees (see fig.6.2-4a), the results
obtained for the Wood-Armer moments will be incorrect. An improved solution will
be obtained if the grillage elements are rotated to avoid this situation (see fig.6.2-4b).
In general, if a grillage analysis is carried out with skew angles of this magnitude the
Wood-Armer computations will be very inaccurate.

y
x
GRIL 1
GRIL 2
42
o
45
o
45
o
42
o
x
y
GRIL 1
GRIL 2
(b) (a)
FIG.6.2-4 SKEW ANGLES USING GRILLAGE ELEMENTS
6.2.4 Assessment
There are two options available for assessing the load capacity of a structure that has
already been constructed. For the first assessment option, the k factor is not minimised
but is defined as an input parameter. This allows a particular slab with the position
and areas of reinforcement already established to be assessed to verify its ability to
carry a set of applied loads. In other words, although the amount of reinforcement in
6.3 Strain Energy And Plastic Work Calculations
311
one direction may be less than the minimum computed by the Wood-Armer equations,
the total reinforcement may still be enough to support the loads. For this approach to
be successful there must be some spare capacity in one of the reinforcement
directions.
An alternative way of assessing the reinforcement is to use and input the actual
resistive forces, that would be known (for sub-sections of the slab), and to compute a
safety factor. This safety factor can also be used to assess the capability of the slab
to withstand a particular set of applied loads. The safety factor calculated in LUSAS is
based on the minimisation of the difference of the resistive force and the applied force
and is simply given as:
= N N
*
(6.2-22)
where N
*
and N are the resistive force and the applied force calculated at the angle
() where (N N
*
) is a minimum.
The value of must always be greater than zero. If a negative value of is computed,
is set to zero and should be ignored, i.e., no reinforcement is necessary. For values
between zero and 1 the slab is under-reinforced and extra reinforcement is required. If
is greater than 1, the capacity of the slab has not been exceeded. It should be noted
that can only be computed using the total applied load and cannot be applied to
active loads in isolation. cannot therefore be interpreted as the reduction factor
used with HA/HB loading for bridge assessment.
6.3 8train Energy And Plastic Work Calculations
For linear problems, when a structure is loaded work is stored in the form of
recoverable strain energy i.e. energy that would be recovered if the system was
unloaded. This relates to the area under the stress/strain graph. For nonlinear problems
this relates to the area under the unloading stress/strain graph, some work done by the
loading being taken up by unrecoverable plastic deformations (plastic work).
For elastic linear materials the strain energy is given by Zienkiewicz [Z1] as
U D D
V
T
V
T
V
T
= +
I I I
1
2
dv dv dv
0 0
(6.3-1)
The total stresses can be written as
= + D
0 0
3 8
(6.3-2)
Equation (6.3-1) can therefore be written as
U D
V
T
V
T
=
I I
dv dv
1
2
(6.3-3)
Chapter 6 Post-Processing Facilities
312
In the absence of initial stresses and strains this reduces to
U
V
T
=
I
dv (6.3-4)
where
and are the total strains and stresses,
D the modulus matrix

0
and
0
the initial strains and stresses.
For nonlinear materials the strain energy for the first increment is computed as for
elastic linear materials above. For subsequent increments the incremental strain energy
is given by
U
V e
T
= +
I
1
2
c pr
dv
4 9
(6.3-5)
Similarly the incremental plastic work is given by
PW
V p
T
= +
I
1
2
c pr
dv
4 9
(6.3-6)
where

e
are the incremental elastic strains

p
are the incremental plastic strains

c
are the current total stresses

pr
are the total stresses from the previous increment