Next generation tools for analysis and design of concrete structures

该项目的直接目的是提高加拿大和世界各地结构工程师了解结构行为方式并允许他们改进结构的能力。 目前，没有简单或实用的方法来确定钢筋混凝土结构将如何响应极端载荷，如果它们导致结构刚度或结构拓扑结构的急剧变化，因此工程师必须依靠直觉和经验来回答与极端载荷相关的问题。 该研究项目的结果将允许一些倒塌相关的问题，以现实和实际的回答首次提出的研究的目标将完成一个新的有限元建模框架，可以执行一般的非线性分析钢筋混凝土框架和壳结构的发展。 这些新的有限元将允许一些目前被忽略的，但合理的众所周知的结构效应，包括在设计中，如构件伸长由于弯曲，剪切变形，短剪跨行为，以及更好地模拟弯曲和剪切重分布效应。 当建筑物接近结构倒塌时，这些中的每一个都很重要，因为结构将找到在常规加载期间不可用的替代载荷路径。 建模框架还将允许更严格的连接墙与框架结构，并隐含地将允许一些当前热门的研究领域，如自定心系统和剪切的尺寸效应的整合。 基于该项目，将首次有可能以考虑这些不同行为影响的方式专门设计结构，从而有可能生产出更具弹性的结构。 因此，它将允许建造更便宜的建筑物和桥梁，同时使它们更能抵抗意外或故意的损坏。

This project is directly aimed at improving the ability of structural engineers in Canada and around the world to understand the way that structures behave and to allow them to improve their structures.  Currently there is no simple or practical way to determine how a reinforced concrete structure will respond to extreme loads if they result in dramatic changes to structural stiffness or structural topology and thus the engineer must rely on intuition and experience to answer collapse-related questions.  The results of this research project will allow a number of collapse related questions to be realistically and practically answered for the first time.The objectives of this proposed research will be to complete the development of a new finite element modelling framework that can perform general nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete framed and shell structures.  These new finite elements will allow a number of currently ignored, but reasonably well known structural effects to be included in design such as member elongation due to flexure, shear deformations, short shear span behaviour, and better modelling of flexural and shear redistribution effects.  Each of these can be important when a building approaches structural collapse as the structure will find alternate load paths that are not available during regular loading.  The modelling framework will also allow more rigorous connections of walls with frame based structures and implicitly will allow the integration of a number of currently topical research areas such as self-centering systems and the size effect in shear.  Based on this project, it will become possible for the first time to specifically design a structure in a way that takes these various behavioural effects into consideration and thus it will be possible to produce a more resilient structure.  It will thus allow less expensive buildings and bridges to be built while at the same time having them be more resistant to damage either accidental or intentional.