Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Concentrated Loading
D. M. Cotsovos1; N. D. Stathopoulos2; and C. A. Zeris3
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Abstract: The work described in the present article is concerned with the numerical investigation of the dynamic response of reinforced
concrete 共RC兲 beams subjected to high rates of transverse loading. Of interest herein is the case of localized impact loading, such as that
encountered in the case of contact, impact, and ballistic problems, rather than the case of loads distributed over the entire span of RC
structural elements arising particularly from far field explosions. The investigation is based on the use of a commercially available general
purpose finite-element 共FE兲 package for nonlinear static and dynamic analysis of three-dimensional FE models. A key feature of our study
is the hypothesis that the material properties of concrete and steel reinforcement are independent of the loading rate. Based on this
assumption, the effects of the applied loading rate on the exhibited structural response are primarily attributed to the inertia forces that
develop within the beam and not to the loading rate sensitivity of the mechanical characteristics of the materials involved. This hypothesis
constitutes a major departure from currently accepted design and numerical modeling practices, which adopt exactly the opposite view,
thus, providing an alternative explanation as to the causes that affect the complex inelastic response of RC structural elements under high
loading rates, as well as the cracking patterns, observed during testing. The results obtained correlate closely with the experimental
observation that structural performance, in the form of stiffness, load carrying capacity, and deformability, depart significantly from those
recorded under quasi-static loading as certain thresholds of applied loading rates are surpassed, with these changes becoming more
pronounced as the rate of loading increases. From the analysis of numerical and experimental predictions, the causes that lead to the above
change in behavior are established and a relatively simple design model is proposed, which is able to quantify the observed increase in
load-carrying capacity exhibited by RC beams with increasing rates of applied loading as well as the concentration of damage.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲0733-9445共2008兲134:12共1839兲
CE Database subject headings: Reinforced concrete; Concrete beams; Concentrated loads; Stiffness.
50
maxP d/maxP s
40 Hughes and Spiers - 1982
30 Miyamoto et a - 1989
20 Kishi et al - 2001
10 Kishi et al - 2002
0
1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07
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(a)
2.5
maxδ d/maxδ s
1.5
Hughes and Spiers - 1982
1
0.5
0
Fig. 2. Deflected shape predicted by analysis for RC beams under 1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07
transverse load applied at midspan at various rates 共Miyamoto et al. load rate (kN/sec)
1989兲
(b)
tal data is presented describing the variation of peak recorded 1
resistance of the various specimens with the rate of the applied 0.9
load, normalized, in each case, by the load-carrying capacity es- 0.8
maxδ d/maxδ s
tablished from the static loading tests 共Hughes and Speirs 1982; 0.7
0.6
Miyamoto et al. 1989; Kishi et al. 2001, 2002兲. A similar sum- 0.5 Miyamoto et al - 1989
mary of experimental data is presented in Figs. 3共b and c兲, de- 0.4
scribing the variation, with rate of applied load, of the maximum 0.3
vertical midspan deflection exhibited by the RC beam specimens 0.2
0.1
prior to failure, normalized by its counterpart under static loading.
0
It should be noted at this point that the experimental data 1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05
共illustrated in Fig. 3兲 are characterized by considerable scatter,
load rate (kN/sec)
which is attributed to differences in the specimen characteristics
共such as specimen geometry, grades of concrete used, and amount
of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement兲, on the one hand, (c)
and the difficulties associated with testing under high loading
Fig. 3. Variation of: 共a兲 load-carrying capacity, and 共b兲, 共c兲 maximum
rates on the other. Due to the extremely short duration, the load
deflection of RC beams with loading rate 共max Pd = load carrying
intensity and the explosive failure associated with high-rate load-
capacity under dynamic loading, max Ps = load-carrying capacity
ing tests, it is often difficult to obtain accurate measurements, due
under static loading, max ␦d = maximum deflection under dynamic
to the lack of adequate sensitivity of the instruments used 共par-
loading, max ␦s = maximum deflection under static loading兲, as pre-
ticularly for earlier impact tests兲 or due to the fact that the instru-
dicted by Hughes and Speirs 共1982兲 and Miyamoto et al. 共1989兲
ments could easily go out of range during testing. Such an effect
in the accuracy of measured quantities at high loading rates has
been demonstrated already, at the material level, whereby the re-
cent introduction of more accurate test setups, namely the split presented in Fig. 3共b兲 due to the considerable scatter characteriz-
Hopkinson bar test, has brought upon a corresponding revision in ing the data. Particularly regarding the deflection at failure, it is
the rate dependency of the concrete compressive strength 共Cotso- important to note that, when considering the maximum deflection
vos 2004; Cotsovos and Pavlovic 2008a,b兲. In spite of this scatter, exhibited at the midspan of an RC beam, one has to identify at
the experimental data give a good qualitative description of the what load intensity the beam ceases to behave as a continuous RC
effect of the rate of loading on the overall behavior of RC beams. structural element due to the level of damage sustained by the
By examining Figs. 1 and 3共a兲, it can be seen that an increase concrete medium. Given adequate anchorage of the reinforce-
in the rate of applied loading results in a gradual increase of the ment, at this stage, the beam mobilizes membrane action mecha-
load-carrying capacity of the specimens. On the other hand, as it nisms in order to transfer the external load to the supports,
is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3共c兲, the maximum deflection of the thereby undergoing large deformations and finally collapse. Such
load point decreases with increasing impact rate, though this can- behavior is not modeled by the FE model presently adopted, as it
not be established with sufficient clarity in the case of the data is considered to represent postfailure behavior.
RC beam specimens are simply supported and subjected to a the specimen’s mass and its effect on the overall response, in
point load imposed at their midspan cross section兲, but seems to general, and on the region surrounding a crack 共or a smeared
be directly related to the inertia load distribution along the mem- group of cracks兲 within the concrete medium and around the re-
ber as a consequence of the dynamic response. A portion of the inforcement, in particular. In this context, the investigation of the
specimen 共presently termed “effective response length” Leff兲 may behavior of an RC beam under high-rate loading is a dynamic
be, therefore, identified as that part of the span extending between problem and as such it is governed by the equation of motion.
the two consecutive slope discontinuity points on each side of the Due to the nonlinear behavior of concrete, this equation is solved
center, as shown in Fig. 2. In fact, Fig. 2 clearly indicates that as numerically through the implicit Newmark integration scheme
the rate of loading increases, the deflections measured within Leff 共Belytschko 1976兲. As long as the stability criteria are observed,
increase at a rate much higher than that of the deflections within the method yields comparable results with explicit finite-element
the remaining portions outside the bounds of Leff toward the sup- formulations in RC element analysis. A brief description of the
ports. It may further be noted in the figure that the width of Leff model parameters follows for completeness.
decreases with increasing rate of loading.
This presence of a slope discontinuity is further corroborated
by looking at the distribution of cracks with the applied rate of Concrete Modeling
loading. By observing the crack patterns presented in Fig. 4, it The constitutive model presently adopted to describe the concrete
can be seen that, under high rates of loading, cracking primarily behavior is a phenomenological model, which aims at mimicking
consists of a cluster of cracks radiating diagonally from the load the effects affiliated with the nonlinear behavior of concrete at a
point down to the tensile face of the beam, in contrast with the structural level. Its derivation is based on an analysis of test data
crack distribution under static loading, which seems to extend all from tests on concrete cylinders and cubes subjected to uniaxial
the way to the supports. As the rate of loading increases, the compression and tension under quasi-static load rates. The result-
portion of the beam in which the crack pattern described above ing stress-strain curve 关see Fig. 5共a兲兴 consists of an ascending
takes place becomes narrower. Furthermore, in the case of high- 共strain-hardening兲 and a descending 共strain-softening兲 branch,
rate loading, cracking may also initiate in the upper face of the thus, describing the behavior of concrete both before and after the
beams, around the point of slope discontinuity, extending verti- peak-stress value. By assuming that concrete is an orthotropic
cally downwards toward the bottom face. Overall, cracking is material, the uniaxial law described above is applied to each
concentrated within Leff, extending primarily between the succes- principal-stress axis leading to a formulation of a more general
sive discontinuity points. constitutive model capable of describing the behavior of concrete
These observations reveal that under high rates of loading, a under triaxial loading conditions 共following Willam and Warnke
significant change occurs in the way the RC beam responds and 1974兲.
transfers the impinging load to its supports compared to the static The presently-adopted hypothesis that the material properties
case. As it will be later shown herein, this change in the specimen of concrete are independent of the rate of loading contrasts with
behavior is attributed to the inertia forces, which develop inter- the vast majority of constitutive models used for describing the
nally and significantly affect the member response. behavior of concrete under high rates of loading, which are usu-
ally based on the assumption that there is a link between the
material properties of concrete and the rate at which the loading is
General Aspects of the FE Model Adopted for the imposed 共frequently denoted as “loading-rate sensitivity”兲. The
Numerical Investigation influence of rate is generally expressed as two different scale
factors for the quasi-static compressive and tensile cylinder
Due to the difficulties and limitations associated with RC element strength, respectively. These scaled properties are subsequently
tests under high rates of loading, resort has been made to the use assumed to affect all other strength-related mechanical properties
of nonlinear FE analysis 共Du et al. 1989; Miyamoto et al. 1989; of the material, such as the initial and secant modulus and the
Thabet and Haldane 2001; Georgin and Reynouard 2003; Hatzi- confined stress and corresponding strain 共TM5-855-1 1998;
georgiou et al. 2001; Abbas et al. 2004; LS-DYNA 2007兲. Use of Mander et al. 1983兲. Such strain rate dependencies, however, are
the FE element method provides a more detailed description of primarily intended for use in validating entire member or struc-
their response and, furthermore, it allows the investigation to be tural models in seismic and impact load inelastic analyses, in
extended to structural forms more complex than the simple RC which distributed inertia effects are typically ignored following
structural elements that can be studied experimentally. Another lumped mass representation.
advantage of the numerical investigation is that, unlike testing, However, loading-rate sensitivity has been based on a certain
which relies on measuring and recording the effect of the rate of interpretation of the available experimental data, the validity of
loading on structural behavior, it allows a more comprehensive which was questioned 共Cotsovos 2004; Cotsovos and Pavlovic
study of the causes of change in the behavior exhibited by the RC 2008a,b,c兲. By assuming that the material properties of concrete
structural elements. are independent of the loading rate, the effect of the latter on the
Fig. 4. Crack patterns at failure of RC beams under various rates of loading established experimentally by 共a兲 Hughes and Speirs 共1982兲; 共b兲
Kishi et al. 共2001兲; and 共c兲 Miyamoto et al. 共1989兲
specimen behavior is primarily attributed to the inertial response loading rates can be assessed. At this point, it is important to note
of the specimen mass, which, in our case is included in the model that the modeling is limited to RC structures that have been air
through distributed discretization: such a simple and, arguably, cured and, therefore, exhibit low moisture content.
obvious—albeit unorthodox—postulate is tested herein in order to
ascertain whether or not it can be extended to entire structural RC
Reinforcement Modeling
elements, as opposed to test cylinders, for reproducing their ex-
perimentally measured response under high-rate loading. Through Steel reinforcement is explicitly included in the FE model using
this analysis the importance and significance of the role that in- one-dimensional bars under uniaxial tension and compression
ertia plays in the element’s dynamic performance under high only, with full deformation compatibility at the nodes. Full bond
Fig. 5. Presentation of 共a兲 the concrete material model; 共b兲 the RC structural form investigated; and 共c兲 FE model adopted to describe the RC
structural form
is assumed, therefore, between steel and concrete, with local bond Crack Modeling
transfer bounded by the tensile capacity of the concrete Gauss
points near the reinforcement. Steel constitutive behavior follows Following the modeling capabilities of the analysis program
a simple bilinear hardening model accounting for the initial elas- 共ANSYS 2004兲, cracking, which corresponds to localized failure
tic and an averaged postyield behavior of the bars. Following the of the concrete medium, is modeled using the smeared instead of
same reasoning as in the case of concrete, the effect of the loading the more complicated discrete crack approach. Following this
rate on the behavior of the steel reinforcement is neglected at the modeling convention, cracks are allowed to form at the integra-
material level. tion points where stress evaluation takes place and their effect is
in the literature, a simply supported RC beam 共specimen C2兲 are the average values for concrete with an f c of 45 MPa兲, the
investigated by Hughes and Speirs 共1982兲 is selected herein. The velocity of the stress wave is found to be u̇w = 2.354 m / msec.
beam has a rectangular cross section with a height of 200 mm, a Given the distance between the point of load application at mid-
width of 100 mm, and a clear span equal to 2,700 mm. The lon- span and the supports is 1,350 mm, the time needed for the stress
gitudinal reinforcement consists of four bars: two 12 mm diam wave to travel from the center span to the support is approxi-
bars placed at the two corners at the bottom of the beam’s cross mately 0.57 msec. Considering the nonlinear response of the ele-
section and two 6 mm diam bars placed at the two corners at the ment due to the cracking of concrete and the yielding of steel, one
top 关see Fig. 5共b兲兴. The transverse reinforcement consists of could suggest that if the loading duration is less than the time
6 mm diam stirrups placed at approximately 180 mm center-to- needed for the stress wave to reach the beam’s support, then the
center spacing. The elasticity modulus 共ES兲, the yield stress 共f y兲, peak loading stresses will remain unaffected by the reflected
and the ultimate strength 共f u兲 of both the longitudinal and trans- stress waves.
verse reinforcement bars used are 206 GPa, 460 MPa, and
560 MPa, respectively. On the other hand, the uniaxial compres-
sive 共f ck兲 and tensile 共f tk兲 strength of the concrete used for the Static Load Case Study
specimen are approximately 45 MPa and 3 MPa, respectively.
During the experiment, the RC beam is subjected to a point load, In the static load case study, the external load is applied in the
which is applied on the center of the specimens’ span. This load is form of displacement increments at midspan and the results ob-
applied by means of a steel mass, which is left to fall onto the tained are presented in Figs. 6共a–c兲. The predictions in Fig. 6共a兲
specimen from a certain height, depending on the desired rate of are presented in the form of a load-displacement curve, which
loading; several loading rates are considered in the test, as well as represents the relation between the applied load and the deflection
a quasi-static load application. An additional characteristic of the at the load point. The figure also includes the corresponding load-
loading procedure is the use of mild steel, rubber, or ply pads, deflection curve established experimentally by Hughes and Speirs
which are placed on the top face of the specimen in order to avoid 共1982兲 and shows a good correlation between the predicted and
local damage 共spalling兲 by the impact of the falling mass. experimental response. Based on the experimental measurements,
the beam exhibits a completely ductile behavior, with the load-
carrying capacity and the maximum deflection of the load point
FE Modeling of the Problem being approximately 29 kN and 50 mm, respectively; failure of
the specimen was caused by yielding of the longitudinal rein-
The concrete medium is modeled by using a dense mesh of eight- forcement bars in the midspan, resulting in the formation of ex-
node brick elements with an edge size of between approximately tensive cracking in that region that ultimately led to failure of the
2 and 3 cm; the element formulation adopts a reduced integration compressive zone at this location. Fig. 6共b兲 shows how the RC
scheme to avoid numerical problems due to locking. Reinforce- beam deforms for the case of static loading. Overall, the numeri-
ment bars are modeled by two-node single Gauss point truss ele- cal investigation predicts a response of the RC beam similar to
ments 关see Fig. 5共c兲兴 with sectional areas distributed to the that established experimentally, yielding slightly lower values of
relevant nodes of the beam’s cross section so as to be equivalent, load-carrying capacity and maximum deflection 共26 kN and
in terms of both cross-sectional area and location, to the actual 40 mm, respectively兲. The numerical prediction of the cracking
reinforcement of the beams. Because of the double symmetry of process is presented in Fig. 6共c兲: flexural cracks begin to appear
the problem at hand, one-quarter of the actual specimen was mod- in the midspan region of the specimen and gradually extend to-
eled with suitable boundary conditions. ward the supports as the imposed load increases. The predicted
As in the case of the experimental investigation, the external cracking sequence correlates closely with that established experi-
load is applied onto the midspan of the RC beam. The value of mentally by Hughes and Speirs 共1982兲.
the applied load increases linearly at a constant rate until the
load-carrying capacity of the RC beam is reached and failure
occurs. Various rates of loading are investigated herein rang- Dynamic Load Case Studies
ing from 200 to 200,000 kN/ sec 共which corresponds to 50 to
50,000 kN/ sec when considering the quarter of the specimen ac- In the dynamic case studies, the effect of five different rates of
tually modeled兲. Initially the static problem is investigated in loading on the behavior/response of the RC beam, ranging form
order to effectively calibrate the model and this is followed by the 200 to 200,000 kN/ sec, is investigated. The numerical predic-
investigation of the dynamic problems. tions, given in Figs. 7共a and b兲, are presented in the form of load
In order to explain the behavior exhibited by the RC beams deformation curves, depicting the variation of externally applied
under high-rate loading, the dynamic problem must be viewed as load with vertical displacement of the nodes located at the mid-
a wave-propagation problem. Following the application of the span cross section of the RC beam. The numerical results ob-
external load on the midspan, stress waves are generated and tained show that under dynamic loading, there is a significant
(a) (a)
400000
experimental - static
350000
100000
(b) dynamic analysis-
50000 20000KN/sec
0 dynamic analysis-
0 10 20 30 40 50 200000KN/sec
(b)
15 pinned
Hughes & Spiers - 1984 -
12
simply supported Leff /2= L/2
9 analyitical predictions
a=0.1 (a)
6 analyitical predictions
a=0.2
3
analyitical predictions
a=0.3
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0
1,E+02 1,E+03 1,E+04 1,E+05 1,E+06 1,E+07
Loading rate (kN/sec)
(a)
Leff/2
1,6
numerical predictions (b)
1,4
Miyamoto et al - 1989
1,2
maxδd/maxδs
0,8
0,6
Leff/2
0,4
(c)
0,2
0
1,E+02 1,E+03 1,E+04 1,E+05 1,E+06
Loading rate (kN/sec)
(b)
1,6 Leff/2
1,4
(d)
1,2
maxδd/maxδs
1
Fig. 9. Deformed shape of the RC beam investigated under load
0,8
numerical applied at midspan at various rates of loading 共the arrows show the
0,6 predictions displacement vectors兲: 共a兲 200 kN/ sec; 共b兲 2,000 kN/ sec; 共c兲
0,4
Hughes &
Spiers - 1982
20,000 kN/ sec; and 共d兲 200,000 kN/ sec
0,2
0
1,E+02 1,E+03 1,E+04 1,E+05 1,E+06 1,E+07
whose deflection becomes disproportionally large. The analysis
Loading rate (kN/sec) further reveals that this is related to the crack distribution under
(c) different rates of loading, as these are depicted in Figs. 10共a–d兲.
These results indicate that under low loading rates, cracks begin
Fig. 8. 共a兲 Comparison of experimental, numerical, and analytical
to form in the midspan region of the RC beam 共where the external
predictions expressing the variation of load-carrying capacity of the
load is applied and the bending moment is larger兲 at relatively
RC beams with loading rate 共max Pd = load-carrying capacity under
low values of the applied load and extend gradually throughout
dynamic loading, max Ps = load-carrying capacity under static load-
the beam span as the applied load increases, similar to static load
ing兲; 共b兲 comparison of experimental and numerical data expressing
the variation of maximum deflection of RC beams with loading rate
response. However, as the rate of loading increases, the cracking
共max ␦d = maximum deflection under dynamic loading, max ␦s process in the beam changes by being more localized within the
= maximum deflection under static loading兲 midspan region of the beam, while the cracks seem to initiate at
higher levels of applied load. It is worth noting that during the
loading process, the predicted extent of cracking may extend be-
sumed that the large values of displacement recorded during test- yond the boundaries of the concave portion of the beam, which
ing correspond to postfailure behavior. corresponds to what has earlier been defined as Leff 共see Fig. 9兲.
Fig. 9 shows the way the beam deforms under different im- This, however, does not change the fact that the deformation ex-
posed rates of loading. By observing the predicted deformed hibited within this effective response length is much greater than
shapes of the RC beams presented in Fig. 9, it can be suggested that exhibited outside this region.
that for low rates of loading 共i.e., below 200 kN/ sec兲, the RC An important feature of the crack distribution is that the cracks
beam deforms in a manner similar to that recorded in the static under static and low-rate loading form at the bottom part of the
case 关Fig. 6共b兲兴, following a near-parabolic form. However, as the beam 共where high tensile stresses develop兲 and extend upwards as
rate of loading increases, the numerical predictions confirm quali- the applied load increases, with an inclination that depends on the
tatively the experimental observation of Fig. 2 共Miyamoto et al. cross-sectional distance from the midspan of the beam 共the longer
1989兲, which, namely, indicates that the deflected shape progres- the distance, the more inclined the cracks are兲. In the case of
sively attains a narrower bell-shaped form in the vicinity of the high-rate loading, cracking seems to form also in the upper part of
loading point, with its convex portions near the supports gradu- the specimen, gradually extending 共almost vertically兲 downwards.
ally increasing at the expense of the middle concave portion, These cracks form at the two ends of Leff, thus, defining the
25000
15000 2000kN/sec
68,128N 127,144 N
static
10000
359,360 N 60000
50000
various rates of loading: 共a兲 200 kN/ sec; 共b兲 2,000 kN/ sec; 共c兲 0
20,000 kN/ sec; and 共d兲 200,000 kN/ sec -10000 0 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006
-20000
time (msec)
(c)
boundaries between the portion of the RC beam’s span, which
responds to the applied load and that which remains practically 140000
unaffected. Such a crack pattern suggests that Leff essentially be- 120000
support reaction (N)
100000
haves as a beam fixed at its ends.
80000
From the analysis above, it can be seen that both experimental
60000 200,000kN/sec
and numerical data exhibit similar trends of behavior for the RC 40000 static
beams under high-rate loading. In particular, it can be suggested 20000
that the agreement observed between numerical and experimental 0
data validates the initial assumption that the effect of loading rates -20000 0 0.0002 0.0004 0.0006 0.0008 0.001 0.0012 0.0014
on the specimen behavior can be attributed, at least for the rates -40000
considered, purely to the inertia effect of the RC beams’ mass and time (msec)
the reduced effective response length and not to the loading-rate (d)
sensitivity of the properties of concrete and steel.
Fig. 11. Variation with time of support reactions of the RC beam
investigated under load applied at midspan at various rates of load-
ing: 共a兲 200 kN/ sec; 共b兲 2,000 kN/ msec; 共c兲 20,000 kN/ msec; and
Justification of the RC Beam Behavior under 共d兲 200,000 kN/ msec
High Rate of Loading
It appears from the above that the numerical investigation carried For the case of static load, equilibrium requires that the above
out provided a realistic description of the effect of the loading rate histories are the same 关e.g., Fig. 11共a兲兴.
on the behavior of the RC beams investigated herein. Use of these From the time histories presented in Fig. 11共a兲, it appears that
data in design, however, requires an understanding of the causes for low loading rates 共i.e., loading rates less than 200 kN/ sec兲,
that trigger these effects, which can be described by examining in the reaction forces are approximately half those of the applied
more detail this particular nonlinear wave propagation problem. load. For such low rates of loading, the stress waves generated,
Upon impact, stress waves are generated at the point of load after reaching the specimen ends, are deflected and travel back-
application and propagate along the member, away from the wards and forwards along the length of the beam, trapped be-
loaded area and toward the end supports. For the specimen con- tween the member’s end faces. As a result, the stress waves affect
sidered in detail herein, the time necessary for the waves to travel the entire specimen, adding to the complexity of the internal
this distance is approximately 0.57 msec. Figs. 11共a–d兲 depict the stress field 共except, of course, for static or quasi-static types of
time histories of the predicted support reactions during loading loading兲 and, hence, it is difficult to predict where the highest
compared with the static reaction, equal to half the applied load. concentrations of stresses 共and strains兲 develop. Nevertheless, the
冑
which extends to Leff with the latter essentially behaving as a
fixed-end beam whose span decreases as the loading rate in- 4 · a ·  · Mu
⌬tc = 共2兲
creases 共see Fig. 12兲. It is considered that it is this reduction of Ṗ · u̇w
Leff that is the underlying cause of the beam’s observed increase
in stiffness and load-carrying capacity, as these are established The values of ⌬tc obtained from Eq. 共2兲 for a = 0.3,  = 0.3,
experimentally and are also verified numerically 共Miyamoto et al. u̇w = 2,354 m / sec, M u = 19 kN m, and Ṗ = 200, 2,000, 20,000, and
1989兲; this reduction in effective response member span occurs 200,000 kN/ sec, respectively, are given in Table 1, together with
when the rate of loading increases beyond a “critical” value, lead- the corresponding values of Leff. It should be noted, however, that
ing to an increase in shear within the beam under a given applied Leff cannot be larger than the span of the beam. Bearing this in
impact load. mind, it is possible to calculate the maximum load that causes
From the crack patterns of Fig. 10, it can be seen that Leff flexural failure of Leff for a given loading rate form Eq. 共1b兲 as
extends between the locations of the first flexural cracks that form shown below
Table 1. Variation of Load-Carrying Capacity with the Rate of Loading for the RC Beam Investigated under Point Load Applied at Midspan
for Leff 艋 2.7 m
⌬t = 冑 关共2 · ␣ ·  · M u兲 / 共Ṗ · u̇w兲兴
Loading rates Ṗ for Leff ⬎ 2.7 m ⌬t = max Ps / Ṗ Leff = 2 · u̇w · ⌬t Pd = [4 · (1 + ) · M u / Leff]
共kN/sec兲 共sec兲 共m兲 共kN兲
200 0.145 ⬎2.7 max Ps = 29
578 0.0502 ⬎2.7 max Ps = 29
2,000 0.00129 ⬎2.7 30.3
8.834 0.00057 2.7 36.6
20,000 0.000334 1.57 63.53
200,000 0.000121 0.567 176
1 = 冉冊冑
L
2
·
E·I
·A
References