Experimental and analytical assessment of ductility in lightly reinforced concrete members

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Engineering Structures. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.This paper is concerned with the ultimate behaviour of lightly reinforced concrete members under extreme loading conditions. Although the consideration given to the assessment of ductility is of general relevance to various applications, it is of particular importance to conditions resembling those occurring during severe building fires. The main purpose of the investigation is to examine the failure of idealised members representing isolated strips within composite floor slabs which become lightly reinforced in a simulated fire situation due to the early loss of the steel deck. An experimental study, focusing on the failure state associated with rupture of the reinforcement in idealised concrete members, is presented. The tests enable direct assessment of the influence of a number of important parameters such as the reinforcement type, properties and ratio on the ultimate response. The results of several tests also facilitate a detailed examination of the distribution of bond stresses along the length. After describing the experimental arrangements and discussing the main test results, the paper introduces a simplified analytical model that can be used to represent the member response up to failure. The model is validated and calibrated through comparisons against the test results as well as more detailed nonlinear finite element simulations. The results and observations from this investigation offer an insight into the key factors that govern the ultimate behaviour. More importantly, the analytical model permits the development of simple expressions which capture the influence of salient parameters such as bond characteristics and reinforcement properties, for predicting the ductility of this type of member. With due consideration of the findings from other complementary experimental and analytical studies on full slab elements under ambient and elevated temperatures, this work represents a proposed basis for developing quantified failure criteria.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

Progressive collapse of multi-storey buildings due to sudden column loss — Part I: Simplified assessment framework

Accepted versio

The effects of absorber attachment location on vibration response of simply supported plate

Vibration analysis of thin walled structure has been an active research in engineering fields. This paper proposed to investigate the application of vibration absorber (VA) attached to the simply supported plate (SSP) in order to suppress the structural vibration. Two major factors influence on vibration reduction of late are investigated in term of the attachment location of vibration absorber and the number of absorber applied on structural dynamic of the plate. Finite element software of ANSYS APDL was performed to measure the dynamic response of plate. The results found that the best positioning vibration absorber are at the location of 0.35 m of x-axis and 0.40 m of y-axis which can attenuate the vibration along the frequency band. Numerical result also presented that when attached multiple absorber, the vibration reduction of plate provide larger suppression to SSP which average reduction almost 80% over the frequency modes. This study conclude that right position and number of absorber can be the major contribute to suppress vibration on a plate structure more effectively

An analytical model for elasto-plastic buckling of columns

The theory of buckling strength of compression members in the plastic range has been extensively studied, and numerical methods already exist which deal with such behaviour. However, there is significant research interest in developing analytical models for elasto-plastic buckling, largely driven by the need for simplified mechanics-based design tools, but also by the desire for enhanced understanding of this complex phenomenon. This paper is intended to illustrate the mechanics of the elasto-plastic buckling response of stocky columns by means of a simplified analytical model, starting from the point of buckling initiation and considering the post-buckling response. In this model, the Rotational Spring Analogy is used for formulating the geometric stiffness matrix, whereas the material stiffness matrix is obtained with due consideration for the spread of material plasticity. In addition to establishing some key features of elasto-plastic buckling, the imperfection sensitivity in the plastic range is also studied and as a result a threshold level of imperfection is identified

Failure assessment of lightly reinforced floor slabs. I: Experimental investigation

This paper is concerned with the ultimate behavior of lightly reinforced concrete floor slabs under extreme loading conditions. Particular emphasis is given to examining the failure conditions of idealized composite slabs which become lightly reinforced in a fire situation as a result of the early loss of the steel deck. An experimental study is described which focuses on the response of two-way spanning floor slabs with various materials and geometric configurations. The tests enable direct assessment of the influence of a number of key parameters such as the reinforcement type, properties, and ratio on the ultimate response. The results also permit the development of simplified expressions that capture the influence of salient factors such as bond characteristics and reinforcement properties for predicting the ductility of lightly reinforced floor slabs. The companion paper complements the experimental observations with detailed numerical assessments of the ultimate response and proposes analytical models that predict failure of slab members by either reinforcement fracture or compressive crushing of concrete. © 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers

Ultimate behavior of idealized composite floor elements at ambient and elevated temperature

This paper is concerned with the ultimate behavior of composite floor slabs under extreme loading situations resembling those occurring during severe building fires. The study focuses on the failure state associated with rupture of the reinforcement in idealized slab elements, which become lightly reinforced in a fire situation due to the early loss of the steel deck. The paper describes a fundamental approach for assessing the failure limit associated with reinforcement fracture in lightly reinforced beams, representing idealized slab strips. A description of the ambient-temperature tests on isolated restrained elements, carried out to assess the influence of key material parameters on the failure conditions, is firstly presented. The results of a series of material tests, undertaken mainly to examine the effect of elevated temperature on ductility, are also described. A simplified analytical model is employed, in conjunction with the experimental findings, to assess the salient material parameters and their implications on the ultimate response at both ambient and elevated temperature. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Ultimate behaviour of composite floor slabs at ambient and elevated temperature

This paper is concerned with the ultimate behaviour of composite floor slabs under extreme loading situations resembling those occurring during severe building fires. The study focuses on the failure state associated with rupture of the reinforcement in idealised slab elements, which become lightly reinforced in a fire situation due to the early loss of the steel deck. The paper summarises recent studies carried out in order to provide a fundamental approach for assessing the failure limit associated with reinforcement fracture in lightly reinforced beams, representing idealised slab strips. In addition, preliminary results from the first phase of ambient tests on isolated strips are outlined and the main conclusions are discussed. Following the completion of subsequent stages of experiments involving full slab members, this work will enable validation of detailed numerical models which will be used for developing simplified design-oriented guidance

Failure criteria for composite slabs subject to extreme loading conditions

This paper is concerned with the ultimate behaviour of composite steel/concrete floor slabs under extreme loading situations, particularly those that occur during severe building fires. The study focuses on the failure state associated with rupture of the reinforcement in composite slab members which become lightly reinforced in a fire situation due to the early loss of the steel deck. An account of a series of large scale ambient tests, undertaken on full slab members, is presented in the paper. The experimental arrangements are described together with the details of the specimens. Complementary analytical studies, carried out to assess the salient factors influencing the failure of composite slab members are also summarised. The assessments utilise detailed numerical models which adopt novel finite element formulations including geometric and material nonlinearities, as well as simplified analytical models for the prediction of failure deformations and associated load levels. The results of this investigation offer detailed insights into the key factors that govern the ultimate behaviour of composite floor systems under extreme loading conditions, and provide simplified tools which are suitable for implementation in performance based design procedures

Progressive collapse of multi-storey buildings due to sudden column loss—Part II: Application

Accepted versio

An efficient beam-column formulation for 3D reinforced concrete frames

Accepted versio