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Abstract
A constitutive model is developed for material non-linear analysis of steel bre reinforced concrete slabs supported
on soil. The energy absorption capacity provided by bre reinforcement is taken into account in the material constitutive relationship. The theory of plasticity is used to deal with the elasto-plastic behaviour of concrete. A smearedcrack model is used for reproducing the concrete cracking behaviour. The soil non-linear behaviour is simulated by
springs on orthogonal direction to the slab. The loss of contact between the slab and the soil is accounted for. The
model performance is assessed using results of experimental research. 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Steel bres; Elasto-plasticity; Smeared-crack model; Fracture energy; Softening; Finite element method
1. Introduction
Westergaard [1] was, probably, the rst researcher to
develop analytical models for studying plain concrete
beams and slabs supported on an elastic eld. These
models are, however, restricted to the linear elastic regime, which is far from the real behaviour of cement
based materials such as concrete. In order to avoid the
brittle failure of plain concrete, the use of steel rods and
steel wire meshes on concrete industrial oors became a
current practice after the sixties. To design reinforced
concrete slabs on grade, Losberg [2] and Meyerhof [3]
developed analytical models based on the yield line
theory [4]. However, these models are not able to reproduce the deformational behaviour up to the collapse
load of a reinforced concrete slab on grade.
Recently, a nite element based model [5] was proposed to evaluate the load-carrying capacity of plain
concrete slabs on grade. However, the model results are
mesh dependent [6], because the tensile post-cracking
energy absorption capacity was not accounted for.
*
Corresponding author.
In the last two decades, the conventional reinforcement on industrial oors has been replaced by steel bres. Research and practice have shown that, in
comparison to conventional reinforcement, steel bre
reinforcement is more ecient and economic for industrial oors [7,8]. The mechanical properties and the
cracking behaviour are improved by adding steel bres
to the concrete mix [911]. Numerical models for analysing laminar structures of steel bre reinforced concrete
(SFRC) are still scarce. Using a model for material nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete structures, Falkner
and Teutsch [12] have proposed some procedures to
adjust this model to SFRC structures. The main suggestion advanced by these researchers was the evaluation of a reinforcement equivalent to a given content of
bres. This procedure was based on the equivalent
exural tensile strength, proposed by the German Concrete Association [13]. The assumptions of Falkner and
Teutsch seem too simplied for simulating the behaviour
introduced by bre reinforcement, as can be observed
from their numerical results.
The experimental research has revealed that the
post-peak behaviour of SFRC, both under tension and
under compression is much more ductile than the
0045-7949/01/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 4 5 - 7 9 4 9 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 6 1 - 4
98
for ZX60/.80 bres. In these expressions, fc is the compression strength, Eci is the initial modulus of elasticity,
Ec1 is the modulus of elasticity at peak stress [24], ec10 is
the strain at peak for plain concrete (2:2 103 according to CEB-FIP Model Code 1990) and Wf is the
bre weight percentage in the mixture. In Fig. 1, rc ec
experimental curves are compared to the rc ec relationship given by the above expressions [10].
2.3. Post peak tensile behaviour
Four point bending tests under displacement control
were carried out on notched beams [14] to assess the
post-cracking behaviour and to evaluate the fracture
energy [26] of SFRC. Fibre content of 0, 30, 45 and 60
ec =ec1
1 p q qec =ec1 pec =ec1 1q=p
with
q1p
Ec1
;
Eci
p q 2 0; 1;
1q
> 0;
p
where
ec1 ec10 0:0002Wf ;
99
Gf
19:953 3:213Wf
Gf0
3.1. Introduction
3. Numerical model
10
co
Table 1
Values for dening the characteristic points of the softening diagram of SFRC
Parameters
Fibre type
ZP30/.50: bre content (kg/m3 )
n1 10
a1
n2
a2
30
45
60
30
45
60
79
0.350.45
0.20.3
0.10.2
46
0.550.65
0.250.35
0.150.25
35
0.60.65
0.30.4
0.150.25
35
0.40.5
0.150.25
0.20.3
35
0.60.7
0.150.25
0.250.35
10100
0.650.75
0.30.5
0.250.35
100
co
Dco
mb is the material in-plane stiness matrix and Ds is
the material out-of-plane shear stiness matrix.
2
1
Eci 4
tc
2
1 tc 0
tc
1
0
3
0
0 5
1tc
2
12
where tc is the concrete Poisson coecient. The transverse shear behaviour is considered linear elastic, being
the corresponding stiness matrix given by
1 0
co
13
Dco
s Ds;e FGc 0
1
where Gc is the concrete shear modulus and F 5=6 is a
correction shear factor [14].
3.2.2. Linear elastic cracked concrete
For cracked concrete with concrete between cracks in
linear elastic state (ecr), the submatrix Dco
mb given in Eq.
(11) is designated by Dco
mb;ecr , dened by the following
expression [30]:
co
Dco
mb Dmb;ecr
h
i1 T
T co
co ^ ^ cr
co
^
^
^
R
D
R
R
R
Dco
D
D
D
mb;e
mb;e
mb;e
mb;e ;
14
where R^ is a matrix dening the direction of the cracks
^ cr is a matrix
formed at a sampling point (Fig. 3) and D
which accounts for the constitutive law of the cracks.
Each crack is governed by the following constitutive
relationship:
Dscr Dcr Decr ;
15
cr
T
Dscr
nt ;
T
Dccr
nt ;
17
and
Dcr
I
D
0
cr
0
;
Dcr
II
18
cr
is the crack stiness matrix, where Dcr
I and DII are the
fracture mode I and the fracture mode II stiness
modulus of smeared cracks, respectively. The Dcr
I is
19
where ecr
nn;m is the maximum attained crack strain normal
to the crack and g is given by
h
i
Wf `f
cr
g 1 exp 1000enn;m
:
1 exp
C df
20
16
b
Gc ;
1b
21
ln ecr
nn =C1
b
24
C2
with
qeq;ef 0:005
;
0:015
qeq;ef 0:005
C2 10 2:5
;
0:015
C1 7 5
25
nr
X
qi;ef cos4 hi ;
26
i1
T co
Dco
mb;e aa Dmb;e
;
Dco
mb;e
T
h a Dco
mb;e a
27
where a is the ow vector and h is the hardening modulus [33]. The hardening modulus depends on the
equivalent stress-plastic strain relationship used for
concrete in compression.
In the plasticity approach, concrete strain, eco , is
co
decomposed into an elastic, eco
e , and a plastic, ep , contribution. Inserting this decomposition into expression
(1) holds
101
rc
q co
fc
q
e
r2c
p
eco
B
B
c1
1A=p
eco
rc eco
p
p
rc p
fc co 0
co
B ec1
ec1
28
with
A
Ec1
;
Eci
q 1 p A;
B Eci eco
c1 :
29
1=2
fc rc ; kc rTc P c rc
30
pTc rc rc kc 0
is used in the present work for plain and brous concrete, where rc kc is the equivalent compressive stress,
with kc being the hardening parameter associated to the
equivalent plastic strain rate or to the plastic work rate,
P c is the projection matrix [35]
2
3
a b b 0
6b a b 07
7
Pc 6
31
4b b a 05
0 0 0 c
and pc is the projection vector,
p c d 1 1 1 0 T :
Scalar parameters a, b, c and d are dened as
2
2
0:355
0:355
1:355
a
; b
;
2
2
2
0:355
c 3 1:355; d
:
2
32
33
i1
T
^ R^T Dco
R^ Dco
mb;ep R
mb;ep ;
where Dco
mb;ep was dened in Eq. (27).
34
102
Z
Ae
N T ks N dA
35
to the slab stiness, where Ae is the area of a nite element, N is a vector with the dimension of the number of
element nodes. The terms of N are the values of the element shape functions. In Eq. (35), ks is the tangent soil
reaction modulus. The soil stiness contributes only to
the rigidity terms of the degrees of freedom orthogonal
to the laminate structure. The friction between the slab
and the soil is neglected.
If in a given sampling point the concrete slab loses
the contact with the soil (Fig. 7), i.e., if the displacement
orthogonal to the slab middle surface, u3 , is less than the
plastic soil settlement, asp , the part of the soil corresponding to this sampling point does not contribute to
the stiness of the slabsoil system. These procedure
accounts for the zones, where the soil has plastic settlements (zone A in Fig. 7), as well as, for the zones
where the slab lift up with soil in linear elastic state (zone
B in Fig. 7).
103
Fig. 7. The loss of contact between the slab and the soil is accounted for.
4. Model appraisal
In a previous work [11], the model performance was
already assessed, simulating the tests carried out with
sets of slabs of plain concrete, slabs reinforced with wire
mesh and slabs reinforced with 30 and 45 kg/m3 of
ZX60/.80 hooked end steel bres. The purpose of the
present section is to evaluate the model performance by
simulating the behaviour of SFRC slabs supported on
other materials such as rubber and cork. For experimental research in laboratory, these materials are easier
to deal with than soil, being a useful alternative.
Falkner and Teutsch [12] have carried out tests with
3000 3000 150 mm3 concrete slabs supported on a
60 mm thick elastic subbase of cork and rubber. The
slabs were loaded via a hydraulic jack, acting on a
120 120 mm2 steel plate placed at the centre of the slab.
The two experimental tests carried out with concrete
slabs reinforced with 20 kg/m3 of 60/.80 hooked ends
Dramix steel bres [17] are simulated with the numerical
model described in the present work. The slab designated
by P3 was supported on elastic cork subbase. In a slab
named P4, the elastic cork subbase was replaced by a
layer of rubber mats of the same thickness, in the load
applied zone over an area of 1:5 1:5 m2 . The reaction
modulus of the cork and rubber subbase was evaluated
from plate loading tests on specimens of 500 500 mm2 ,
with a plate of 150 mm in diameter. The values of the
Table 2
Values of the material properties
Concrete (Fig. 2)
Soil (Fig. 8)
Cork subbase
Rubber subbase
t 0:15
eco 2:2 103
Wf 0:83
a1 0:4
n1 0:005
a2 0:25
n2 0:1
104
In slab P4, apart from the left branch of the deection along the x1 axis for load level of 345 kN, the remainder deections are predicted quite well. The smaller
deection predicted by the numerical model in
1500 6 x1 6 0 mm for load level of 345 kN (Fig. 13) is
due to the crack pattern developed in the experiment
[12]. The deection in the negative x1 coordinate is
105
106
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