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NONLINEAR FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF LIGHTWEIGHT AGGREGATE

REINFORCED CONCRETE SLABS

Conference Paper · April 2018

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 Volume-8 | Issue-4 | April-2018 | ISSN - 2249-555X | IF : 5.397 | IC Value : 86.18
Original Research Paper
Engineering

NONLINEAR FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF LIGHTWEIGHT

AGGREGATE REINFORCED CONCRETE SLABS

Anil Kumar R Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, MSRIT, Bangalore -54, India
Dr P Prakash Professor & HOD, Department of CTM, DSCE, Bangalore-78, India
ABSTRACT This paper presents a nonlinear finite element analysis of lightweight aggregate reinforced concrete slab. In this study, the
slabs were modelled using ANSYS V.15 nonlinear finite element software. The concrete is modelled using 'SOLID65'-
eight-node brick element, which is capable of brittle materials and the tension reinforcement has been modelled discretely using 'LINK180'-3D
spar element. A total 6 slabs were analysed, out of which 3 were lightweight aggregate RC slabs and other 3 were normal weight aggregate RC
slabs and grade of concrete used was M30 for all the slabs. The slab had an overall dimension of 1500x1000x70 mm. The main and distribution
steel was of 8 mm diameter. The spacing of the main reinforcement of three slabs was 150,175,200 mm respectively. The slabs were studied for
ultimate load, load-deflection behaviour for each case and compared with the available experimental values. The above study indicates that finite
element modelling is properly able to simulate the behaviour and strength of lightweight aggregate RC slab and normal weight aggregate RC slabs
under flexure. The comparison study showed that the FEA predicts a variation in deflection studies, the ratio of FE model deflection to
experimental deflection being and also the ultimate load predicted by FE model is lesser than experimental by a variation of %.

KEYWORDS : Lightweight concrete, finite element analysis, ANSYS, Load-deflection, Slabs, Meshing
INTRODUCTION compressive uniaxial stress-strain relationship for the calculation of
Reinforced concrete is used in construction industries in huge quantity multi-linear isotropic stress-strain curve of concrete.
during the construction of structures. Usually the plain concrete
possess high compressive strength but its tensile strength is very low. As per the experimental setup the boundary conditions considered was
To increase the tensile strength of concrete, reinforcement is provided that the slab was fixed at all the ends. So, to simulate the same, in Finite
to it. Beams, columns, foundation, slabs etc are the common RC Element the nodes at the ends of the column are restrained in all
structure found in normal buildings. The proper design and detailing of directions. A total of 300 kN which is the working load, is applied
the elements will influence the performance of the structures. transversely at selected 16 points to get an actual behaviour of
uniformly distributed load. The load of 300 kN is divided into its
Slab is a very important structural member in buildings. The flooring component and applied onto each node. The load on the slab is applied
systems of most of the structures like office, commercial and at nodes at a distance 175mm from the left end of the support edge. The
residential buildings, bridges, sports stadiums and other facilities are support conditions and loads can be seen in figure 1 and figure 2
called slabs. Generally, the main functions of slabs are to carry gravity respectively.
forces, such as loads from human weight, goods and furniture, vehicles
and so on. In modern structure design, to resist external lateral actions
such as wind, earthquake and lateral earth load, slabs are designed as
floor diaphragms.

As the span of building increases, deflection of slab becomes more

important. Finally, the slab thickness is increased leading to increase in
column and base size. Thus, materials like concrete and steel will be
consumed more. To overcome these disadvantages due to increasing
self-weight of slabs, lightweight aggregate concrete slabs were
suggested. This slab system consists of lightweight aggregates which
will optimize the size of vertical members like walls and columns by
reducing the weight of slabs.

Experimental Study:
In the experimental study, totally 6 slabs were modelled wherein, 3
slabs were Lightweight Aggregate RC Slab(LWAC) two way simply Figure 1: Boundary Conditions
supported and other 3 slabs were Normal weight Aggregate RC Slab
(NWAC) two way simply supported of overall dimension
1500mmx1000mmx70mm and tested them under 16 point bending
load. The percentage of main reinforcement was kept varying.

Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis:

In the finite element analysis totally 6 slabs were modelled wherein, 3
slabs were Lightweight Aggregate Reinforced Concrete Slab (LWAC)
two way simply supported and other 3 slabs were Normal weight
aggregate RC Slab (NWAC) two was simply supported and remaining
3 slabs were normal weight aggregate.

The SOLID65 element requires non-linear isotropic and multi-linear

isotropic material properties for the correct modelling of the concrete
material. Von Mises failure criterion was used for multi-linear
isotropic material along with the model of William and Warnke
(1975)[4] to define the concrete failure. Poisson's ratio (ν) and modulus
of elasticity of the concrete (Ex) are the linear inputs required. Figure 2: Applied Loads on the Slabs

British Standard Eurocode 2 (BS EC2,2014)[6] was used for the Results and Comparisons:

366 INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH

 Volume-8 | Issue-4 | April-2018 | ISSN - 2249-555X | IF : 5.397 | IC Value : 86.18
The load-deflection curve of both experimental and the ANSYS is
given below

Figure 3: Ultimate deflection for LWC-150

Graph-1: Load-deflection behaviour for LWC-150

The slab was reinforced with 8mm diameter bars spaced 150mm center
to center in the longer direction and with 8mm diameter bars spaced
120mm center to center in the other direction. A total load of 196.5kN
was applied in 131 steps. The first crack appeared at a load of 6kN, as
the load was increased the deformation also increased and there was a
failure of beam at an ultimate load of 196.5kN with a deflection of
12.48mm. Graph 5.10 shows the load-deflection behavior of ANSYS
and Experimental, it was seen that almost upto yield point the
deflection of ANSYS and experimental were very similar and beyond
yield the deflection began to vary. It was seen that the load carried in the
experimental setup was 51.7% more than the load carried in ANSYS. Figure 4: Ultimate deflection for LWC-175
This could be due to the fact that in ANSYS the member cannot be
loaded when stress in steel reaches 415N/mm2. But experimentally
there was no means to arrive at the stress of steel, hence loading was
continued until complete failure of the joint.

Figure 5: Ultimate deflection for LWC-200

Graph-2: Combined load-deflection curve for LWC

A graph was plotted for combined load-deflection curve for LWC, it

was seen that LWC-200 had larger deflection compared to other LWC
and LWC-175 has larger load carrying capacity and less deflection
compared to other LWC slabs.

The graph 3 shows the combined load-deflection curve for NWC. As it

is seen in graph 3, NWC-200 had larger deflection compared to other
NWC and NWC-150 has larger load carrying capacity and less
deflection compared to other NWC slabs.
Figure 6: Ultimate deflection for NWC-150

Graph 3 Combined load-deflection curve for NWC Figure 7: Ultimate deflection for NWC- 175
INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH 367
 Volume-8 | Issue-4 | April-2018 | ISSN - 2249-555X | IF : 5.397 | IC Value : 86.18
RC slab shows that for smaller loads NWC-200 has larger deflection
compared to other NWC slabs whereas at higher loads NWC-150 has
larger load carrying capacity and less deflection compared to other
NWC slabs. It means that for lower reinforcement the load carrying
capacity increases and deflects less.

The stress- strain values were applied using the British Standard
Eurocode 2 (BS EC2,2014) for both concrete material properties. It
gave a satisfactory result and thus can be used for the analysis in
ANSYS in future.

The increment of load in the analysis played a major role in the

convergence of the solution. As the analysis time and storage space
was main importance, the displacement convergence method proved
to be efficient.

Figure 8: Ultimate deflection for NWC-200 For most of the slabs formation of cracks before the ultimate load was
well corresponded with the observed failure modes of the experimental
Comparison of Ultimate load with Johansen's loading: slabs in flexure.
The following table gives the ultimate load obtained in FEM analysis
and Johansen's Ultimate loading. After the analysis of the data, it was Thus to put it in a nut shell, it can be concluded that the 3D ANSYS
seen that ultimate load of the FEM method and Johansen's formula had model can be used to analyse the nonlinear behaviour of lightweight
not much variance. The analytical ultimate loads were relatively lower aggregate RC slab and normal weight aggregate slab. It also showed
compared to experimental and also Johansen's Load. This can be due to satisfactory results when compared with the observations and statistics
the fact that in ANSYS, recording of the first crack can be done easily of the experimental tests.
but in experiments microscope is needed and crack should be visible to
record accurately. REFERENCES:
[1] Mr. Anil Kumar R, Dr. P Prakash “Studies on Structural Light Weight Concrete by
Blending Light Weight Aggregates” International Journal of Innovative Research in
TABLE 1: FEM AND JOHANSSEN'S ULTIMATE LOADING Engineering & Management ISSN: 2350-0557, Volume-2, Issue-4, July-2015 pp 64-67.
[2] M H Jin, H S Jang, C.H. Kim and D.I. Baek, “Concrete Shear Strength of Lightweight
SLAB ID PU (kN/mm2) Pj (kN/mm2) Concrete Rienforced with FRP Bar”. International Institute for FRP in Construction for
LWC-150 145.55 155.404 Asia- Pacific Region. Asia-Pacific Conference on FRP in structures,Seoul,Korea 9-11
December 2009
LWC-175 145.55 153.596 [3] T. Geetha Kumari. “Non Linear Finite Element Analysis of SFRSCC and SFRNCC One
LWC-200 131.11 143.03 Way Simply Supported Slabs In Flexure using ANSYS”. International Research Journal
of Engineering and Technology (IRJET). Volume: 02 Issue: 04 | July-2015
NWC-150 185.77 197.52 [4] Willam,K. J. and Warnke, E. P. (1975), “Constitutive models for the triaxial behavior of
NWC-175 168.518 180.003 concrete”, Proceedings of the International Assoc. for Bridge and Structural
Engineering , vol 19, pp. 1- 30.
NWC-200 131.11 143.03 [5] MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF LIGHT WEIGHT AGGREGATE CONCRETE,
Euro Lightcon ,Economic Design And Constructive With Light Weight Aggregate
Summary and Conclusions: Concrete, Document BE96-3942/R23,June 2000
The analytical investigation on the normal weight aggregate slabs and [6] EN 1992-1-1 (2004) (English): Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures - Part 1-1:
General rules and rules for buildings
lightweight aggregate slabs was carried to study the load-deflection [7] IS 383:1970, “Specification for Coarse and Fine Aggregates from natural sources for
parameter and compare the results with the experimental results and concrete”, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, India.
Johansen's load. [8] ACI 211.2-98 “Standard Practice for Selecting Proportions for Structural Light Weight
Concrete”
[9] Michala Hubertova and Hela Rudolf, “ Lightweight Reinforced Concrete” Solid State
Ÿ Finite element models were created of normal weight aggregate Phenomena. ISSN:1662-9779, Vol.249,pp 28-32
RC slab and lightweight aggregate RC slab using ANSYS 15.0 and
compared the results of this model with experimental results
Ÿ The structural behaviour of lightweight aggregate RC slab was
compared with normal weight RC slab using finite element
analysis.
Ÿ Load-deflection curve was developed of lightweight aggregate RC
slab and normal weight aggregate slab and compared the same
with the curve developed from experimental results.
Ÿ 6 specimens were modelled and the reinforcement was varied
wherein 3 specimen are lightweight aggregate RC slab and
remaining are normal weight aggregate RC slab and analysed
using ANSYS.
Ÿ The effect of reinforcement variation was studied with respect to
the load-deflection behaviour.

Based on the results of the analytical investigation, the following

conclusions are drawn:

The load carried by the experimental setup was more than the load
carried in ANSYS. This could be due to the fact that in ANSYS the
member cannot be loaded when stress in steel reaches 415N/mm2. But
in case of experimental analysis there was no means to arrive at the
stress of steel. Hence, loading was continued until complete failure of
the joint.

The combined load-deflection behaviour of lightweight aggregate RC

slab shows that for LWC-200 has larger deflection compared to other
LWC slabs and LWC-175 has larger load carrying capacity and less
deflection compared to other LWC slabs. It means that for higher
reinforcement the deflection is more and as the reinforcement
decreases the load carrying capacity increases.

The combined load-deflection behaviour of normal weight aggregate

368 INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH

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