Finite Element Analysis of Normal Strength, High Strength and Hybrid Reinforced Concrete Beams

Abstract

This paper presents the numerical study to simulate the flexural behavior of normal strength, high strength and hybrid reinforced concrete beams, under two points load with two different reinforcement ratio. The hybrid beam consists of two layers: the compressive layer is made of high strength concrete, and the tension layer is made of normal strength concrete. The simulation was done with a finite element model using the commercial finite element code, ANSYS (v.9.0). The concrete component material is modeled, the internal steel reinforcement modeled using ''LINK'' elements. The modeled behavior shown a good agreement with the experimental data. The maximum percentage difference in ultimate load-carrying capacity is 8% at the ultimate load level.Analytical study also included the effect of increasing the depth of the normal strength concrete for the hybrid reinforced concrete beam and the effect of increasing the compressive strength for high strength concrete and normal strength concrete respectively on the behavior and the load carrying capacity of the hybrid reinforced concrete beams.