NONLINEAR OPTIMAL-DESIGN MODEL OF A CONCRETE REINFORCEMENT TRUSS PLANK

The reinforced concrete truss plank is one kind of specially-shaped re inforcement concrete composite slab that has been used in bridge struc tures, building structures, etc. in Hong Kong, Japan, America and Euro pean countries. Because of its complicated reinforcement distribution, this truss plank is analysed and designed by simplified methods that neglect the contributions from a combined reinforcement truss mechanis m and the design is over-conservative. This paper describes a non-line ar optimal design model for this plank, considering reinforcement trus s action by a strain compatible method from a refined finite element m odel and experiment analysis.