Numerical Simulation of Direct Tensile Test of Reinforced Concrete Using Abaqus Software

Abstract

Concrete is characterized by its resistance to compressive forces; however, this material has a low resistance to tensile forces. Due to its resistance to tensile forces, we add steel reinforcements in order to increase the mechanical properties of concrete. In this work we simulated a direct traction test using the Abaqus software. The tensile test characterizes the elasticity of a material and measures its resistance to tensile forces, the tests were carried out on cylindrical specimens complying with the standards. We modeled this test because of the difficulty of carrying out the experiments due to the appearance of stress concentrations during tightening the specimen with the two fasteners of the traction machine. The aim of this simulation is to compare the resistance to the tensile strengths applied on a concrete test piece and a second reinforced concrete test piece. The study revealed that the reinforced concrete structure is more resistant than the concrete structure alone, and that concrete deformations are more significant than reinforced concrete deformations. Thus, the stresses generated in the concrete structure exceed those of the reinforced concrete.