Abstract The seismic behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) structures is critically influenced by the complex mechanical interactions at beam-column joints. To ensure desired hierarchy failure achieved when retrofitting existing structures, numerical and experimental assessments need to represent realistic structures. A review published literature indicates that most work on pre-1970?s RC conne...

Chloride ingress and carbonation cause corrosion of reinforced concrete (RC) structures affecting its operational life. Experimental evidence indicates that these deterioration processes are highly influenced by CO2 emissions and climatic conditions in the surrounding environment –i.e. temperature, humidity, etc. Since studies on global warming announce changes in climate, the impact of changin...

This paper deals with the performance and design of hybrid connections between steel columns RC beams by means shear-keys, through detailed nonlinear numerical assessments in which influence key geometric material parameters on ultimate behaviour is examined. The simulations employ concrete damage plasticity modelling procedures are validated against test results members. Extensive parametric i...

Membrane actions commonly exist in reinforced concrete (RC) elements under flexural deformation, which could significantly increase the ultimate load-bearing capacity and potentially influence damage mode of RC element. Most design codes only treat membrane as a “hidden” safety factor without considering its on resistance functions failure modes. In this paper, an experimental investigation is ...

We present a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) formulation to achieve minimum-cost designs for reinforced concrete (RC) structures that satisfy building code requirements. The objective function includes material and labor costs for concrete, steel reinforcing bars, and formwork according to typical contractor methods. Restrictions enforce correct geometry of the cross-section dimensi...