Next generation tools for analysis and design of concrete structures

这个项目的直接目的是提高加拿大和世界各地的结构工程师的能力，以了解结构的行为方式，并允许他们改进他们的结构。目前还没有简单或实用的方法来确定钢筋混凝土结构在极端荷载下的反应，如果它们导致结构刚度或结构拓扑发生巨大变化，因此工程师必须依靠直觉和经验来回答与倒塌相关的问题。这项研究项目的结果将使一些与崩溃有关的问题第一次得到现实和实际的回答。这项拟议研究的目标将是完成一种新的有限元建模框架的开发，该框架可以执行钢筋混凝土框架和壳结构的一般非线性分析。这些新的有限元素将允许一些目前被忽视的，但相当众所周知的结构效应被包括在设计中，如由于弯曲的构件伸长率，剪切变形，短剪切跨行为，以及更好的弯曲和剪切再分配效应建模。当建筑物接近结构倒塌时，这些都很重要，因为结构将找到常规加载时不可用的替代加载路径。建模框架还将允许更严格地连接基于框架结构的墙壁，并隐含地允许将许多当前热门研究领域整合在一起，例如自定心系统和剪切中的尺寸效应。基于这个项目，将有可能第一次以一种考虑到这些不同行为影响的方式专门设计结构，从而有可能产生更有弹性的结构。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破坏。

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.