Mechanical Performance Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Continuous Beams

Resumo

Concrete is a material cast from Portland cement and aggregates. Since the stress level around 30% of
its compressive strength, a concrete specimen, tested on a single compression, presents nonlinear stress-strain
relationship. Steel bars are used to supply its low tensile strength resulting the reinforced concrete that presents
complex mechanical performance. For the accomplishment of suitable study of mechanical performance of such
a material, it is necessary the adoption of finite element analysis over a nonlinear model, at least, in plane state of
stresses. Several models of analysis, such as, the model from the European community’s standards, the one from
AIC, Torrenfeldt’s model, Hognestad’s model, the Rashid’s Smeared Crack Model, Branson’s model, among
others, have been proposed to the mechanical behavior of concrete description. The Branson’s model is, specially,
attractive due to its simplicity, because in its formulation the beam nonlinear behavior is simulated from an
equation applicable to a beam structural member, resulting, in this way, computational effort economy. The
purpose of this work is to report the nonlinear mechanical performance limit analysis of reinforced concrete
continuous beams. To accomplish such a subject, a computational code was developed, based on the finite element
approach on the Branson’s formulation.