TABLE OF CONTENTS For the most part, analytical studies of the nonlinear response of reinforced concrete structures have been focused, by necessity, on the behavior of isolated simple structural elements such as beams and columns. As quantitative information on the load-deformation behavior of concrete developed and computing capability expanded, the scope of nonlinear analysis has broadened to include such triaxially loaded concrete structures as floating vessels, offshore platforms, submerged structures, the usual land-based or underground containment vessels, prestressed concrete reactor vessels, and dams. Although large-scale finite-element software packages now have a wide range of application in many areas of stress analysis, inadequate material models are often one of the major factors in limiting structural analysis. This is especially true for reinforced concrete, where generally accepted constitutive equations adequately describing the basic characteristics of reinforced concrete materials do not exist. Nevertheless, a large variety of models have been proposed in recent years to characterize the stress-strain and failure behavior of concrete material under multidimensional stress states. All these models have certain inherent advantages and disadvantages which depend to a large degree on their particular application. The objective of this book is fivefold:
To present a state-of-the-art summary of various proposed mathematical models for the material behavior of concrete and reinforcement and for the interactive behavior between the two materials
To evaluate critically existing concrete constitutive relations and failure criteria within the context of their use in the numerical...
