In reinforced concrete (RC) structures, adequate bond between the reinforcement and concrete is required to achieve a true composite system, in which reinforcing steel carries tensile stress, once concrete cracks, and concrete and reinforcing steel carry compression. Determining bond strength and required development length for shear transfer between concrete and reinforcement is an ongoing research subject in the field of reinforced concrete with advances in the concrete and reinforcement materials requiring continuous experimental efforts. Finite element analysis (FEA) provides opportunities to explore structural behavior of RC structures beyond the limitations of experimental testing. However, there is a paucity of research studies employing FEA to investigate the reinforcement-concrete bond-zone behavior and related failure mechanism. Instead, most FEA-based research associated with RC bond has centered on developing a bond (or interface) constitutive model for use in FEA that, by itself, can characterize bond-zone behavior, typically represented by the bond stress-slip displacement relationship. This class of bond models is useful for simulating the global behavior of RC structures but is limited in its ability to simulate local bond resistance for geometries and material properties that differ substantially from those used to calibrate the model. To fill this gap in research, this study proposes a finite element (FE) modeling approach that can simulate local bond-zone behavior in reinforced concrete. The proposed FE model is developed in a physics-based way such that it represents the detailed geometry of the bond-zone, including ribs on the deformed reinforcement, and force transfer mechanisms at the concrete-reinforcement interface. The explicit representation of the bond-zone enables simulation of the local concrete compression due to bearing of ribs against concrete and subsequent hoop tension in the concrete. This causes bond failure either due to local concrete crushing (leading to reinforcement pullout) or global concrete splitting. Accordingly, special attention is given to the selection and calibration of a concrete model to reproduce robust nonlinear response. The power of the proposed modeling approach is its ability to predict bond failure and damage patterns, based only on the physical and material properties of the bond area. Thus, the successful implementation and application of this approach enables the use of FEA simulation to support the development of new design specifications for bond zones that include new and improved materials.

Reinforced concrete frames, infilled with brick/concrete block masonry, are the most common type of structures found in multi-storeyed constructions, especially in developing countries. Usually, the infill walls are considered as non-structural elements even though they alter the lateral stiffness and strength of the frame significantly. Approximately 80% of the structural cost from earthquakes is attributable to damage of infill walls and to consequent damages of doors, windows and other installations. Despite the broad application and economical significance, the infill walls are not included in the analysis because of the design complexity and lack of suitable theory. But in seismic areas, ignoring the infill-frame interaction is not safe because the change in the stiffness and the consequent change in seismic demand of the composite structural system is not negligible. The relevant experimental findings shows a considerable reduction in the response of infilled frames under reverse cyclic loading. This behaviour is caused by the rapid degradation of stiffness, strength, and low energy dissipation capacity resulting from the brittle and sudden damage of the unreinforced masonry infill walls. Though various national/international codes of practice have incorporated some of the research outcomes as design guidelines, there is a need and scope for further refinement. In the initial part of this work, a numerical modelling and linear elastic analysis of masonry infilled RC frames has been done. A multi-storey multi-bay frame infilled with masonry panels, is considered for the study. Both macro modelling and micro modelling strategies are adopted. Seismic loading is considered and an equivalent static analysis as suggested in IS 1893, 2002 is done. The results show that the stiffness of the composite structure is increased due to the obvious confinement effects of infill panels on the bounding frame. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the influence of size and location of openings, presence/absence of infill panels in a particular storey and elevation irregularity in terms of floor height. The results show that the interaction of infill panel changes the seismic response of the composite structure significantly. Presence of openings further changes the seismic behaviour. Increase in openings increases the natural period and introduce newer failure mechanisms. Absence of infill in a particular storey (an elevation irregularity) makes it drift more compared to adjacent storeys. Since the structural irregularities influence the seismic behaviour of a building considerably, we should be cautious while construction and renovation of such buildings in order to take the advantage of increased strength and stiffness obtained by the presence of infill walls. A nonlinear dynamic analysis of masonry infilled RC frames is presented next. Material non linearity is considered for the finite element modelling of both masonry and concrete. Concrete damage plasticity model is employed to capture the degradation in stiffness under reverse cyclic loading. A parametric study by varying the same parameters as considered in the linear analysis is conducted. It is seen that the fundamental period calculation of infilled frames by conventional empirical formulae needs to be revisited for a better understanding of the real seismic behaviour of the infilled frames. Enhancement in the lateral stiffness due to the presence of infill panel attracts larger force and causes damage to the composite system during seismic loading. Elevation irregularities included absence of infill panels in a particular storey. Soft storey shows a tendency for the adjacent columns to fail in shear, due to the large drift compared to other storeys. The interstorey drift ratios of soft storeys are found to be larger than the limiting values. However this model could not capture the separation at the interfaces and related failure mechanisms. To improve the nonlinear model, a contact surface at the interface is considered for a qualitative analysis. A one bay one storey infilled frame is selected. The material characteristics were kept the same as those used in the nonlinear model. Contact surface at the interface was given hard contact property with pressure-overclosure relations and suitable values of friction at the interface. This model could simulate the compressive diagonal strut formation and the switching of this compressive strut to the opposite diagonal under reverse cyclic loading. It showed an indication of corner crushing and diagonal cracking failure modes. The frame with central opening showed stress accumulation near the corners of opening. Next, the micro modelling strategy for masonry suggested by Lourenco is studied. This interface element can be used at the masonry panel-concrete frame interface as well as at the expanded masonry block to block interface. Cap plasticity model (modified Drucker – Prager model for geological materials) can be used to describe the behaviour of masonry (in terms of interface cracking, slipping, shearing) under earthquake loading. The blocks can be defined as elastic material with a potential crack at the centre. However, further experimental investigation is needed to calibrate this model. It is required to make use of the beneficial effects and improve upon the ill-effects of the presence of infills. To conclude, infill panels are inevitable for functional aspects such as division of space and envelope for the building. Using the lateral stiffness, strength contribution and energy dissipation capacity, use of infill panels is proposed to be a wiser solution for reducing the seismic vulnerability of multi-storey buildings.

Implementing pre-stressing cables is a viable option aiming at controlling deformation and cracking of concrete flat slabs in serviceability limit state. The pre-stressing cables also contribute to punching shear capacity of the slab when they are located in vicinity of the column. The positive influence of pre-stressing cables on punching capacity of the concrete slabs is mainly due to the vertical component of inclined cables, compressive in-plane stresses and counter acting bending moments near the support region. The method presented in Eurocode 2 to determine the punching capacity of the pre-stressed concrete flat slabs considers the in-plane compressive stresses but totally neglects the effect of counter acting moments. The effect of vertical forces introduced by inclined cables is only considered when they are within the distance 2d from the face of the column. This area is called basic control area in the Eurocode 2. In this master thesis nonlinear finite element analysis is carried out to study the effect of pre-stressing cables on punching shear capacity of concrete slabs respecting the distance of cables from the face of the column. To attain this objective, the concrete damage plasticity model is implemented to model the concrete. The results indicate that until the distance of 6d from the face of the column the contribution of pre-stressing cables in punching shear capacity of slabs is significant. Furthermore, comparing the numerical results with the punching shear capacity of slabs predicted by Eurocode 2 reveals that Eurocode tremendously underestimates the punching shear capacity when the cables are located outside the basic control area.