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Nonlinear concrete behaviour

Article  in  Journal of Applied Engineering Sciences · November 2011

DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.3483020

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NONLINEAR CONCRETE BEHAVIOUR

SAB U Marian*, ONE Traian,
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Civil Engineering,
*e-mail: sabaumarian85@yahoo.com (corresponding adress)

ABSTRACT
This paper presents an overview of nonlinear behaviour in reinforced concrete structures. Structural concrete is a nonlinear
material both at strength limit states and service loads. Are presented terms of effects that are primarily observed in concrete, steel
or a combination of the two. When considering nonlinear behaviour, an important aspect is whether or not strain localization will
occur as size effects. The model must first be validated by experiments and benchmark tests to ensure the safety and reliability
criteria. In nonlinear finite element procedures, engineers must check their finite element discretization and modelling
assumptions used in their analyses. Advanced analysis techniques including finite element method analysis have been
increasingly utilized in various forms for the practice of design and construction of concrete structures in recent years.

Keywords: finite element method, nonlinear analysis, smeared cracking, discret cracking, tension stiffening

Received: October 2011

Accepted: October 2011
Revised: November 2011
Available online: November 2011

INTRODUCTION
Nonlinear analysis is a tool gaining ground among engineers as a practical technique for
design and verification of concrete structures. With nonlinear finite element analysis, a reliable
solution can be obtained only after understanding the combination of multiple constitutive models,
the treatment of analysis theories in the nonlinear processes, mathematical problems in applying to
a softening material such as concrete, and so on. The judgment of the validity of modeling and
analysis results has therefore been left to engineers with substantial experience.
For some design and analysis problems, a linear analysis may not be sufficient when consider
the requirement of satisfying a serviceability limit states such as calculating deflections and crack
widths.
For new structures a non-linear analysis may be performed on the structure after initial
proportioning using a plasticity-based design procedure based on a linear elastic analysis.
Nonlinear analysis can assist in the evaluation of complex geometry or poorly detailed
structures where the effects of localized cracking, for example, may be poorly modelled by linear
analysis.
Situations where nonlinear analysis should be used: resistance of structures to extreme events,
pushover analyses for structural capacity computation, resistance to fire, estimation of P- effects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Finite element analysis was first applied to the cracking of concrete structures by Clough
(1962) [1] and Scordelis and his coworkers Nilson and Ngo [2], Nilson 1968 [3] as shown in fig. 1.

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 Fig.1. The first finite element model of a
cracked reinforced concrete beam [2]

The tables below (table 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) presents important nonlinear effects observed in
structural concrete.

Table 1. Behavioural effects

Types of Behavioural Effects
Energy Energy balance may need to be considered to fully model listed effect
Stiffness Elements must include variable stiffnesses to fully model the listed effect
Bifurcation Indicates a discrete change in behaviour rather than a smooth transition
Plastic strains Indicates that simple nonlinear elasticity may not provide a full solution
Behaviour cannot be fully modelled with strain terms alone. Modelling also
Size dependent
requires an absolute distance relationship such as a crack width

Table 2. Behaviour of plain concrete

Bifurcation

dependand
Stiffness
Energy

strains
Plastic

Size
Plain Concrete Behaviour

Macrocracking X X X
Tension softening X X X
Cyclic response X X
Tension
Creep X X
Crack closing effect X X X
Shrinkage X X X
Crushing X X X
Nonlinearity at high strains X X
Post-peak unloading X X X X
Cyclic response X X
Compression Creep X X
Rate of loading X X
Bi or triaxial confinement X X
Poisson’s ratio X
Thermal effects X X

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Table 3. Behaviour of reinforcement

Bifurcation

dependand
Stiffness
Energy

strains
Plastic

Size
Reinforcement Behaviour

Yielding X X
Strain hardening X X
Tension Thermal effects X X
Rate of loading X X
Rupture X
Buckling X X X
Compression Shear
Dowel action X X X

Table 4. Damage effects

Bifurcation

dependand
Stiffness
Energy

strains
Plastic

Size
Damage Effects

Material Damage X X
Fatigue X

Table 5. Behaviour of combined concrete

and reinforcement
Bifurcation

dependand
Stiffness

strains
Energy

Plastic

Size
Combined Concrete and Reinforcement Behaviour

Tension Bond X X
Tension stiffening X X X
Tension splitting X X X
Compression softening X
Compression Shear
Aggregate interlock X X

3. Concrete in compression
Three important aspects of concrete compressive behaviour are presented: localization in
compression, confinement of concrete, and compression softening.
As concrete shows a decrease in stress for increasing strains beyond the strain associated with
the compressive strength, localization of concrete in compression can be expected. Two primary
effects will result from this: firstly larger specimens failing primarily in a compressive mode can be
expected to show less ductility in the post-peak region than smaller specimens and, secondly, a size
effect is predicted for some member types whereby larger elements in compression will be weaker
in terms of stress than smaller elements. Some tests on specialized structural components confirm
the presence of a size effect in unreinforced flexural compression zones [4]. Concrete can carry
higher compressive stresses with larger deformations when it is laterally confined. Finite element
models can require either biaxial or triaxial confinement relationships. One of the earlier 3D failure
surface models that incorporated this strength enhancement was that of Ottosen [5] (fig. 2).

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 Fig. 2. Failure surface for Concrete

One model which is often used in non-linear elasticity is the Kent and Park (1971) [6] model
later modified by Scott et al. [7] to include the strength and ductility enhancement due to
confinement effects and the effect of strain rate (fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Modified Kent end Park model [7]

As strains perpendicular to the direction of applied compression increase, this strength

reduction effect, often called compression softening, becomes more severe.

4. Concrete in tension
The most important aspect of concrete is cracking. There is more than one way to include
tension in finite element analyses of concrete structures (table 6).

Table 6. Level of analysis complexity

Model concrete tension reinforcing bond element size
Small-scale softening perfect bond very small
Medium-scale stiffening/softening bond law medium
Large-scale stiffening perfect bond large

5. Modelling of tension stiffening

Modelling of tension stiffening can be done in two ways: the first is to modify the stiffness of
reinforcing bars - the tensile stresses are transferred to concrete through bond, the second is to
modify the concrete stiffness to carry the tension force after generation of cracks using the smeared
crack model and the discrete crack model.

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6. Modelling of concrete cracks

In finite element models the cracks can be considered either as smeared throughout the
element or only present at finite element boundaries wich is known as discrete cracking.
6.1. Discrete crack models
In the finite element method (FEM), discrete cracks are usually modeled by altering the mesh
to accommodate propagating cracks. A zone of inelastic material behavior, called the fracture
process zone (FPZ), exists at the tip of a discrete crack, in which the two sides of the crack may
apply tractions to each other. One of the development of finite element modeling of nonlinear
discrete fracture has been the implementation of the fictitious crack model (FCM) (Hillerborg et al.
1976) [8], in which the crack is considered to be a strain softening zone modeled by cohesive nodal
forces or by interface elements. There are situations in which even the FCM seems inadequate to
model realistic concrete behavior in the FPZ, in this case a smeared crack model must be used.
6.2. Smeared crack models
The smeared crack approach was introduced by Rashid (1968) [9]. It is much more
convenient to represent cracks by changing the constitutive properties of the finite elements than to
change the topography of the finite element grid. Localization problems can occur for smeared
cracking problems (fig. 4).

Fig. 4. Localization in FEM

7. Modelling of reinforcement
Reinforcing bars in structural concrete are assumed to be one-dimensional line elements
without transverse shear stiffness nor flexural rigidity. Reinforcement in a nonlinear concrete
analysis can be treated as either discrete or smeared. Discrete reinforcement involves the inclusion
of individual axial or axial-flexural elements into the finite element mesh that model each layer of
reinforcement explicitly. Smeared reinforcement involves calculating an average stress-strain
relationship that applies to the entire element area and is included directly as part of the overall
concrete element stiffness matrix.

CONCLUSIONS
Nonlinear finite element modelling can be an extremely useful and powerful approach in
determining the behavioural response of complex concrete structures but extreme care is needed in
the setting up of the models, in the verification of the model, in assessing the models capability to
correctly identify critical behaviour and in the interpretation of results. Non-linear finite element
analysis based on advanced constitutive models can be well used for the simulation of a real

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 behaviour of reinforced concrete structures. Using the nonlinear finite element method can greatly
contribute to improve construction quality and safety performance of actual structures.

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