A softened membrane model for torsion in reinforced concrete members

Abstract

The Softened Membrane Model (SMM), developed for predicting the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) membrane elements under shear, is extended to RC members subjected to torsion. This new analytical method, referred to as the Softened Membrane Model for Torsion (SMMT), takes into account the strain gradient of concrete struts in the shear flow zone by making two modifications to the constitutive relationships of concrete. First, in the tensile stress–strain relationship of concrete, the pre-cracking stiffness and the strain at peak stress should each be increased by 45%. Second, the Hsu/Zhu ratio for torsion is taken as 80% of the Hsu/Zhu ratio for shear. Similar to the case of the SMM model for shear, this new SMMT model can predict the entire torque–twist curve, including the ranges before and after cracking, as well as the ascending and descending branches. The theoretical predictions from the SMMT compare very well with the test data on torsion available in the literature.