Crack analysis of reinforced concrete members with and without crack queuing algorithm

Abstract

Due to various numerical problems, crack analysis of reinforced concrete members using the finite element method is confronting with substantial difficulties, rendering the prediction of crack patterns and crack widths a formidable task. The root cause is that the conventional analysis methods are not capable of tracking the crack sequence and accounting for the stress relief and re-distribution during cracking. To address this deficiency, the crack queuing algorithm has been proposed. Basically, at each load increment, iterations are carried out and within each iteration step, only the most critical concrete element is allowed to crack and the stress re-distribution is captured in subsequent iteration by re-formulating the cracked concrete element and re-analysing the whole concrete structure. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the crack queuing algorithm, crack analysis of concrete members tested in the literature is performed with and without the crack queuing algorithm incorporated.