BEHAVIOR OF REINFORCED-CONCRETE STRUCTURES SUBJECTED TO UNIAXIAL EXCITATION

The nonlinear cyclic behavior of reinforced concrete beam-column members is complex and governed by a variety of interrelated physical phenomena. The ability of a refined uniaxial finite-element model to simulate many of the factors influencing the planar behavior of reinforced concrete structures is examined in this paper. Following a brief description of the analytical model and its implementation in a nonlinear dynamic analysis computer program, analytical results are compared with experimental data. Structures considered include individual reinforced concrete columns under static and dynamic loads and a complete frame structure subjected to dynamic loads. Numerical simulations are also presented to demonstrate the ability of the refined model to predict the response of structural systems that experience axial load variations and severe local damage.