Failure Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Shell Structures using Layered Shell Element with Pressure Node

Abstract

In this paper, a finite element analysis technique is presented for the path-dependent nonlinear failure analysis of reinforced concrete shell structures. A so-called pressure node is added into a layered shell element utilizing in-plane constitutive models of reinforced concrete and layered formulation in the failure analysis. By controlling the volume of the shell structures using the pressure node, postpeak softening behavior after the ultimate load of the shell structures is obtained. Since the constitutive models cover loading, unloading, and reloading paths, the element is capable of predicting the behaviors of reinforced concrete shells under cyclic loading. For verification of the techniques in this paper, failure analyses of reinforced concrete slabs subjected to in-plane and out-of-plane loads and cyclic transverse loads are performed and numerical results are compared with experimental data. In addition, reinforced concrete dome structures designed with different reinforcement ratios are also analyzed to check the applicability of the technique in this paper. Results show that the techniques can be applied effectively to the failure analysis of various types of reinforced concrete shell structures.