ELEMENT SIZE EFFECTS IN NONLINEAR-ANALYSIS OF REINFORCED-CONCRETE MEMBERS

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the effect of finite element size in nonlinear finite element analysis of concrete structures. The influence of element size on different behavioural asp ects of reinforced concrete structures including the load-displacement and load-strain characteristics, crack pattern and ultimate load are discussed along with a comparison with the experimental data where ava ilable. To eliminate the dependence of the computed results on the fin ite element size, a simple procedure for calculating the ultimate tens ile strain of concrete was developed and implemented into the nonlinea r finite element formulation. The proposed model gives good agreement with the experimental results. In particular, the new model can be use d effectively with relatively coarse finite element meshes with reason able accuracy. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.