Investigating the arching action in reinforced concrete beams

A 1D frame element model was used to study the development of arching action in a reinforced concrete member. The model is capable of capturing geometrical as well as material nonlinearity including concrete cracking and crushing and reinforcement yielding. To preserve the objectivity of results associated with softening of concrete, a non-local damage model is incorporated into the element formulation. The element formulation is outlined and the developed model was verified by examples from the literature. Also, a parametric study is undertaken on a generic beam to demonstrate effects of different parameters, particularly the end rotational and translational stiffness and the concrete compressive strength on development of arching action. The results obtained from the analytical tool are compared with the results of a simple plastic hinge analysis and the enhancing effect of arching action is quantified accordingly.