Investigation of the parameters affecting shear capacity of RC beams using numerical simulations

Shear cracking in reinforced concrete elements and its control has been attempted to be calculated for decades. It is very important to calculate and prevent this damage correctly. Because, as civil engineers, our expectation from reinforced concrete elements is that the type of damage occurs suddenly, giving people time to escape in disasters such as earthquakes. In this study, a shear failure test is selected from the literature. Reinforced concrete beams are modeled using the finite element method and the behavior of the beams is investigated using a numerical model. The analyses are performed using the ABAQUS finite element method with the concrete damage plasticity (BHP) model for concrete and the classical metal plasticity model for reinforcing steel. The compressive and tensile values for concrete, yield strength and ultimate tensile strength for reinforcement were used in the experiment selected from the literature to create the material model. The results obtained from the numerical models show that the concrete damage plasticity model can accurately represent the behavior of shear collapse damaged reinforced concrete beams under static loading. Within the scope of this thesis, 2 tested beams are considered. Beams of similar size to the specimens used in the experimental study were designed. First, modeling was done for the beam where the stirrups were placed at 80 mm intervals. Keeping the stirrup yield strength constant, 6 beam models were made for different stirrup thicknesses. In this way, a total of 36 beams were modeled for different stirrup yield strengths. Eighteen of these models are for 80 mm stirrup spacing and 18 for 120 mm stirrup spacing. A parametric study was performed for two different stirrup spacings using two of the validated numerical models. In the parametric studies, stirrup spacing, material properties and size were kept constant. The change in the shear load of reinforced concrete beams as the stirrup thickness increases was observed. Then, parametric studies were carried out for S220 steel and S420 steel, keeping the stirrup thickness constant.