Next generation tools for analysis and design of concrete structures

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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.