A layered cylindrical quadrilateral shell element for nonlinear analysis of RC plate structures

Y. X. Zhang, M. A. Bradford, R. I. Gilbert

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper proposes a simple and accurate 4-node, 24-DOF layered quadrilateral flat plate/shell element, and an efficient nonlinear finite element analysis procedure, for the geometric and material nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete cylindrical shell and slab structures. The model combines a 4-node quadrilateral membrane element with drilling or rotational degrees of freedom, and a refined non-conforming 4-node 12-DOF quadrilateral plate bending element RPQ4, so that displacement compatibility along the interelement boundary is satisfied in an average sense. The element modelling consists of a layered system of fully bonded concrete and equivalent smeared steel reinforcement layers, and coupled membrane and bending effects are included. The modelling accounts for geometric nonlinearity with large displacements (but moderate rotations) as well as short-term material nonlinearity that incorporates tension, cracking and tension stiffening of the concrete, biaxial compression and compression yielding of the concrete and yielding of the steel. An updated Lagrangian approach is employed to solve the nonlinear finite element stiffness equations. Numerical examples of two reinforced concrete slabs and of a shallow reinforced concrete arch are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and scope of the layered element formulation.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)488-500
Number of pages13
JournalAdvances in Engineering Software
Volume38
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2007

Keywords

  • Lagrangian functions
  • concrete arches
  • concrete slabs
  • finite element method
  • nonlinear theories

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