MULTI-DIRECTIONAL FIXED CRACK APPROACH FOR HIGHLY ANISOTROPIC SHEAR BEHAVIOR IN PRECRACKED RC MEMBERS

Abstract

Recent experiments on pre-cracked beam conducted by the authors pose challenge to the numerical analysis in the field of reinforced concrete mechanics. The numerical requirements of pre-cracked beam problem are identified as (1) multi-step loading paths and path-dependency transfer, (2) multidirectional cracks with crack interaction and (3) highly anisotropic shear along pre-crack plane. Four-way fixed crack approach is judged to fulfil the above numerical requirements. The finite element analysis of pre-cracked beam is conducted. It is verified that the four-way fixed crack approach can reliably reproduce the experimental results of pre-cracked beam