Nonlinear Analysis of Reinforced and Prestressed Concrete Shells Using Layered Elements with Drilling DOF

Abstract

This paper presents a nonlinear finite element procedure for the analysis of reinforced and prestressed concrete shells using the four-node quadrilateral flat shell element with drilling rotational stiffness. A layered approach is used to discretize, through the thickness, the behavior of concrete, reinforcing bars and tendons. Using the smeared-crack method, cracked concrete is treated as an orthotropic nonlinear material. The steel reinforcement and tendon are assumed to be in a uni-axial stress state and to be smeared in a layer. The constitutive models, which cover the loading, unloading, and reloading paths, and the developed finite element procedure predicts with reasonable accuracy the behavior of reinforced and prestressed concrete shells subjected to different types of loading. The proposed numerical method fur nonlinear analysis of reinforced and prestressed concrete shells is verified by comparison with reliable experimental results.