Performance assessment of reinforced concrete structures

根据规范标准设计的钢筋混凝土结构通常以安全和合理有效的方式满足强度和适用性标准。然而，经常会出现需要对结构的强度、安全性和预期响应进行更准确评估的情况。如果结构承受不常见或极端荷载（可能在原始设计中未明确考虑），如果用于设计的规范已被修订或取代，或者如果结构正在恶化并需要修复，则尤其如此。如今，随着我们的基础设施老化以及考虑极端负载的必要性增加，需要提供高级评估功能的工具。普通的商业软件包在这方面用处不大，因为它们通常无法捕捉钢筋混凝土特有的各种二阶机制的影响。

A reinforced concrete structure designed according to code standards will typically meet strength and serviceability criteria in a safe and reasonably efficient manner. Situations often arise, however, where a more accurate assessment of the structure's strength, safety and expected response is required. This is particularly true if the structure is subjected to uncommon or extreme loads (perhaps not explicitly considered in the original design), if the codes used for the design have been revised or superseded, or if the structure is deteriorating and in need of rehabilitation. Today, with our aging infrastructure and with the increased necessity to consider extreme loads, the need exists for tools providing advanced assessment capabilities. Common commercial software packages are of little use in this regard because they typically fail to capture the influences of various second-order mechanisms unique to reinforced concrete.