Numerical deformation analysis of flexural reinforced lightweight aggregate concrete members

Abstract

Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world. Despite the substantial advantages of this composite material, it has quite a few shortcomings as well. One of the main shortcomings is high self-weight which often limits concrete applications to construction of large structures: bridges, multi-storey buildings, etc. One way to solve this problem is application of lightweight aggregate concrete. However, lack of reliable constitutive models for innovative materials often limits their practical applications. In the present study, a numerical deformation analysis of real-sized bridge slabs made of normal and lightweight aggregate concrete has been carried out. The slabs were subjected to short-term dead and live loads. The numerical analysis was performed using the finite elements program ATENA and the constitutive models proposed by the research group. The performed analysis has revealed that due to the ultimate and serviceability limit state requirements of lightweight reinforced concrete slabs, the amount of longitudinal reinforcement can be reduced compared to the traditional reinforced concrete elements with the same parameters. The presented constitutive model can be used as a reliable tool for the numerical modeling of lightweight reinforced concrete elements subjected to short-term loading.