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RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS

Crack Identification in Reinforced Concrete Beams Using Ansys

Software
T. Subramani1, R. Manivannan2, M. Kavitha3
1
Professor & Dean, Department of Civil Engineering, VMKV Engineering College, Vinayaka Missions
University, Salem, India.
2
PG Student of Structural Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, VMKV Engineering College,
Vinayaka Missions University, Salem
3
Managing Director, Priyanka Associates, Civil Engineering Consultant and Valuers, Salem

ABSTRACT
Analytical determination of displacements and stresses in reinforced concrete material was difficult task and
engineers had to rely on empirical formulas because concrete consists of heterogeneous material and creep and
shrinkage influenced deformations in it. Due to these complexities engineers in past had been facing difficulties
in coping such problems, but with the advancement of digital computerization and modern numerical methods
for analysis such as finite element method, these problems can be addressed in a very efficient way. There were
two ways to carry out modelling in ANSYS software, one was smeared approach and the other one was discrete.
In the past, Smeared approach was used to identify the cracks in RC beam using ANSYS but in this work it was
extended using discrete approach of modelling and shear cracks were identified in RC beam and load deflection
curve was simulated which showed good agreement with the experimental results. Beams, made of brittle
materials like concrete or cement, show increasing crack development during their service life due to
mechanical and environmental loadings. This local damage can be translated into a reduction of the local
bending stiffness. Stiffness modifications, while assuming constant mass distribution, can be observed by
monitoring the vibration behaviour of the beam. In this paper the modal parameters of an undamaged beam are
monitored and compared with the vibration behaviour of the beam subjected to controlled damaging. Selected
stiffness parameters in the finite element model are adjusted in such a way that the computed modal quantities
match the measured quantities. FEMtools has been used to establish a damage distribution in beams associated
with increasing stress patterns. State of the art scanning laser modal equipment has been used for this purpose. It
has been found that modal updating is indeed a possible tool to reconstruct the damage patterns.
KEYWORDS: Crack Identification, Reinforced Concrete Beams, Ansys Software

I. INTRODUCTION ABAQUS, ANSYS, STRAND7, or

Concrete structural components require the MSC.NASTRAN.
understanding into the responses of these components Those nonlinear models play a vital role in
to a variety of loadings. There are a number of nonlinear response analyses since each material
methods for modelling the concrete structures component tends to possess the complicated stress-
through both analytical and numerical approaches. strain behaviour. Among those packages, ANSYS
Finite element (FE) analysis is a numerical one provides a three-dimensional element (SOLID65)
widely applied to the concrete structures based on the with the nonlinear model of brittle materials similar
use of the nonlinear behaviour of materials. FEA to the concrete materials. The element features a
provides a tool that can simulate and predict the smeared crack analogy for cracking in tension zones
responses of reinforced and prestressed concrete and a plasticity algorithm to take into account the
members. concrete crushing in compression zones.
A number of commercial FE analysis codes are It is eight-nodded solid isoparametric element
available, along with the advanced modules for with the integration points for the cracking and
complex analyses. The use of FEA has increased crushing checks. The linear elastic behaviour governs
because of progressing knowledge and capability of the analyses until exceeding either the specified
computer package and hardware. Any attempts for tensile or compressive strengths. Once the principal
engineering analyses can be done conveniently and stresses at the integration points reach the tensile or
fast using such versatile FE analysis packages. compressive strength, the cracking or crushing of
Nonlinear material models have been integrated in concrete elements can be formed. Then, the cracked
many of general purpose finite element codes, i.e., or crushed regions will form in perpendicular with the
locally redistributed residual stresses to the direction

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of principal stress. These require the nonlinear comprehensive suite that spans the entire range of
iterative solution with high performance computer. physics, providing access to virtually any field of
Concrete structural elements behave differently under engineering simulation that a design process requires.
different variety of loading. The identification and The software use it‟s tools to put a virtual product
calculation of these responses is very laborious and through a rigorous testing procedure such as testing a
requires lot of expense and time. But now a days beam under different loading scenarios before it
there are several techniques available to solve this becomes a physical object. ANSYS can carry out
problem, amongst those indigenous techniques the advanced engineering analyses quickly, safely and
widely used one is finite element method. practically by variety of contact algorithms, time
Finite element method is a numerical analysis based loading features and nonlinear material models.
method that divides the structural element into In this study it used to carry out discrete modelling of
smaller parts and then simulates static loading RC beam to analyze it under static loading
conditions to evaluate the response of concrete and conditions.
pre stressed concrete members. The use of this
technique is increasing because of enormous 2.3 Reinforced Concrete:
advancement of engineering and computer For modelling of concrete the ANSYS used an
knowledge. This method responds well to non linear element named as Solid65 which is non linear model
analysis as each component possesses different stress of brittle material similar to concrete. It was an eight
strain behaviour. node solid iso parametric element with three degrees
This behaviour is efficiently addressed by of freedom at each node.
software ANSYS which provides number of elements
for modelling of materials and apply loads to evaluate 2.4Steel Reinforcement:
the response. The objective of this study was to make for the modeling of steel ANSYS provided an
a comparison between experimentally tested RC element named as Link180 There were two ways to
beam and the one modelled using ANSYS by use it one was smeared and the other is discrete,
incorporating discrete approach as suggested by discrete was considered to be more convergent as it
Dahmani , etal(2010). The model beam of Ayman subtracts the area of steel from total concrete which
and Banerjee (2007) was taken as the reference beam was the actual scenario where as in smeared the steel
for our analysis and shear cracks are compared with it was embedded in the concrete and behaved as one
as obtained from ANSYS. unit which was not the actual case.

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS 2.5Experimental Data:

2.1Failure Criteria for Concrete: Ayman and Banerjee (2007) carried out their
The model developed using ANSYS is capable experiment showing the average ultimate failure load
of predicting failure for concrete materials. Both of as-built specimen as 86 kN. The width and height
cracking and crushing failure modes are accounted of the beams tested were 0.160 mm and 0.280m
for. The two input strength parameters i.e. ultimate respectively, the length of the beam was 3.76m with
uniaxial tensile and compressive strengths are needed supports located 0.08m from each end of the beam as
to define a failure surface for the concrete. shown in Fig.
Consequently, a criterion for failure of the concrete The mild steel flexural reinforcements used were
due to a multiaxial stress state was calculated by 2#13 bars, 2#10 hanger bars and shear reinforcement
William and Warnke‟s (1975) constitutive model for included #10 U-stirrups. Cover for the rebar was set
multiaxial stresses. Bangash (1989) proposed that in a to 40mm in all directions.
concrete element, cracking occurs when the principal
tensile stress in any direction lies outside the failure III. CAUSES OF CRACKING
surface. Concrete structures do not frequently fail due to
After cracking, the elastic modulus of the lack of strength, rather due to inadequate durability or
concrete element is set to zero in the direction parallel due to improper maintenance techniques. The most
to the principal tensile stress direction. Crushing common cause of premature deterioration is
occurs when all principal stresses are compressive attributed to the development of cracks (Mehta, 1992;
and lie outside the failure surface, subsequently, the Hobbs, 1999). Cracking can occur in concrete
elastic modulus is set to zero in all directions and the pavements and structures for several reasons that can
element effectively disappears. primarily be grouped into either mechanical loading
or environmental effects. It should also be noted that
2.2 Finite Element Modeling: for most practical structures, reinforcement is used to
Experimental RC beam specimen was analyzed bridge and hold cracks together when they develop,
by using ANSYS which is an engineering simulation thereby assuring load transfer while adding ductility
commercially used software offering a to a relatively brittle material.

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Therefore not all cracking causes concern. suggested that this may be attributed to existence of a
Reinforced concrete elements are frequently designed weak bond or interfacial transition zone between the
on the assumption that cracking should take place aggregate and the paste matrix (Mehta, 1996). While
under standard loading conditions (Nilsson and these cracks occur over a wide range of load levels
Winter, 1985; Nawy, 2000). For example they can be attributed to the development of high
continuously reinforced concrete pavements (CRCP) local stresses that occur at the interface of the
are designed with longitudinal steel in an amount aggregates and paste (Shah and Slate, 1965).
adequate to hold shrinkage cracks tight, while joints The response of unreinforced concrete to
exist only at locations of construction transitions and mechanical loading must first be described to fully
on-grade structures. In this pavement type wherein understand how reinforced elements react.
shrinkage cracks develop over time and stabilize over Immediately upon loading, concrete typically is
the first 3 to 4years, cracking in the transverse thought to develop some micro-cracking (Shah and
direction in specific patterns is not detrimental to the Slate, 1965; Attiogbe and Darwin, 1987; Li et al.,
structure as long as the cracks remain tight and retain 1991), though it is frequently assumed to be
good load transfer. negligible since little change is detected in the load-
Therefore, cause of cracking should be carefully displacement response.
identified to determine which cracks are common and The load-displacement response remains fairly
acceptable and which cracks merit repair or further linear until the load level reaches approximately 40%
investigation. Several guides currently exist to assist to 50% of the maximum strength. At this time the
in determining the cause of cracking including the stress-strain response becomes less linear as an
American Concrete Institute (ACI) committee reports increase in micro-cracking occurs resulting in the
“Guide for Making and Condition Survey of Concrete decrease of the elastic modulus of the material. As the
in Service” (ACI 201-92) and “Causes, Evaluation load level approaches 90% to 95% of the peak, the
and Repair of Cracks in Concrete Structures” (ACI slope of the load-displacement curve is once again
224-R93). Mechanical loads induce strains that can reduced as the cracks begin to coalesce and localize
exceed the strain capacity (or strength capacity) of in one region of the specimen.
concrete, thereby causing cracking. Concrete may be This localized area will eventually become the
particularly susceptible to cracking that occurs at location of a visible crack. Depending on how the
early-ages when concrete has a low tensile capacity specimen is loaded (i.e., load control, displacement
(Kasai, 1972). control) the crack may result in sudden failure (load
If the loads are applied repeatedly or over a long control) or continue to develop and grow after the
period of time, fatigue and creep can affect the strain peak load is reached (displacement control) resulting
(or strength) development that can lead to failure in large visible cracking. After the peak load is
(Bazant and Celodin, 1991) or reduce stresses (Shah achieved the specimen begins to demonstrate strain-
et al., 1998). Although numerous factors influence softening behaviour resulting in a gradual decrease in
whether concrete would be expected to crack due load carrying capacity with increasing strain as
toenvironmental effects, it can be simply stated that shown in Figure (Jansen and Shah, 1995).
cracking will occur if the stress that develops in
response to internal expansion or the restraint of a
volumetric contraction that results in stress
development exceeds the strength (or fracture
resistance) of the material. Internal expansion is
primarily caused by chemical attack or freezing of the
pore water while volumetric contraction is typically
attributed to moisture changes, chemical reactions,
and thermal changes.

3.1 MECHANICAL LOADING

Static Loading
Concrete is a composite material that is made by
binding aggregates together with a cementitious
paste. While the independent response of a cement
paste and aggregate to an applied load is linear as
shown in Figure, it can be seen that response of the
composite concrete is highly nonlinear. This non- FIGURE 3.1 Stress strain response of behaviour
linearity can be attributed to the development of small of concrete (1 ksi = 6.89 MPa).
cracks (microcracks) throughout the concrete matrix
as load is applied (Hsu et al., 1963). Others have

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3.2 VOLUMETRIC STABILITY testing. Another distinction is between discrete

Settlement cracks, for which each has to be located and counted
Settlement cracking occurs in freshly mixed individually, and distributed fine cracks, for which
concrete as the concrete settles over time and calculations of an area may be more important.
encounters some restraint. The heavier particles
„sink‟ due to gravity until the concrete sets. Plastic 4.1 Discrete Crack Detection
settlement cracking has been frequently observed to To find an alternative to the detection of
occur at changes in cross section (i.e., over individual cracks by visual inspection, a significant
reinforcing bars or at change in section height). The amount of effort has gone into development of
practical significance of settlement cracking is in the automated analysis software for pattern recognition of
construction of reinforced slabs, and bridge decks. cracks in digital images (Koutsopoulos and El
The magnitude of tensile stress generated as a Sanhouri, 1991). In earlier work, the digital images
result of plastic settlement, along with the capillary were obtained by scanning analog photographs.
stress and the autogenous effect, may be sufficient to As the resolution, i.e. number of pixels, of digital
initiate plastic cracking. The role of settlement in cameras has improved the practice is now to take
plastic cracking has been studied for several decades. direct digital images of the area under investigation.
Powers (1968) measured the settlement of cement This reduces the work involved and avoids the image
paste by manually monitoring the displacement of a degradation introduced by the scanning process. In
steel pin resting on the surface of fresh concrete. the image analysis process, the software examines
The amount of settlement observed was related each black pixel and its neighbours to decide if it
to specimen height, water-to-cement ratio (w/c) and belongs to a given crack. When a crack is detected, it
concrete consistency (Powers, 1968). A uniform is then characterized by a set of parameters including
settlement (i.e., homogenous volume contraction) in a location, length, width and direction (Mahler and
fresh concrete mixture does not lead to plastic Kharoufa, 1990).
cracking. Differential settlement however can lead to There are two major considerations in the
cracking. Differential settlement can be caused by sensitivity of this process: one is the probability of
either external boundaries or embedded rigid detection and the other is the probability of false
inclusions. Weyers et al. (1982) simulated the positives. An algorithm with a low probability of
settlement behaviour occurring due to embedded rigid detection will miss a significant number of cracks. An
inclusions using a model where rebar was positioned algorithm with a high number of false positives may
in a photo elastic material (gelatin) at variable cover detect a high percentage of actual cracks, but may
depths and spacing. also mistake other features for cracks. After a
It was concluded that clear cover depth, rebar crack has been detected and characterized, it may
size and rebar spacing are the major factors affecting then be assigned to a particular class. Several
the magnitude of differential settlement with lager classification systems have been proposed for
bars and smaller cover depths typically resulting in particular applications (Koutsopoulos and El
larger cracks. Kayir and Weiss (2002) used a non- Sanhouri, 1991; Ritchie et al., 1991). It is important
contact laser device to quantify the amount of to distinguish between systems that are simply
settlement occurring in between the time of concrete descriptive, and those that are diagnostic, i.e. those
placement and setting for mortar containing chemical that assign causes to each crack. The problem with
admixtures. diagnostic classifications is that more than one cause
It was shown that the mixing and placement time of damage may produce the same crack appearance.
significantly influence the amount of settlement that
may occur. For example, when compared with the 4.2 Micro crack Measurement Techniques
settlement measured immediately after mixing, the Conventional methods for measuring micro
settlement in a material placed 40 minutes after cracks include optical microscopy, scanning electron
mixing showed nearly a 50% reduction in settlement. microscopy and radiography. These have been
Qi et al. (2003; 2005a) demonstrated that fiber reviewed by Slate and Hover (1984). They are all
reinforcement dramatically reduces settlement destructive, requiring the drilling of cores from the
capacity of fresh concrete. Qi et al. (2005b) concrete followed by sectioning of the specimens,
demonstrated a moving laser system to measure and the results are two-dimensional.
differential shrinkage over reinforcing steel or at More recently three-dimensional methods using
changes in cross-sectional height. computed tomography based on conventional X-ray
or synchrotron radiation have been introduced. These
IV. CRACK DETECTION can image entire specimens. The true crack area can
Cracks may be either macro cracks, detectable by be measured, rather than its two-dimensional
visual inspection, or micro cracks, which can be projection. However, the overall size of the specimen
detected only with microscopes or non-destructive is limited to less than 100 mm (4 in.) in thickness for

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useful resolution. Moreover, these cannot be applied

in the field.

4.3 Ultrasonic’s
Other methods for measuring micro cracks are
based on ultrasonics (Kesner et al., 1998; Jacobs and
Whitcomb, 1997). These methods do not count
individual cracks, but rather measure a bulk
ultrasonic property of the concrete, usually
attenuation. This can then be calibrated against
radiographs to give micro crack density (Kesner et
al., 1998). Ultrasonic methods offer the possibility of
making measurements in the field on real structures. Fig. 4.1, Deterioration From Alkali-Silica Reaction
Their drawback is that features other than micro

 Dense concrete with low permeability.

cracks in the concrete can contribute to attenuation. Preventive Measures:

 Adequate cover to steel.

 In case of large bars and thick covers, it may be
4.4 Acoustic Emission
Acoustic emission describes a field of testing that
has been popular recently in crack detection because necessary to add small transverse reinforcement
of its non-invasive nature (Ouyang and Shah, 1991; while maintaining the min. cover requirements
Ohtsu, 1994; Ohtsu, 1996). Recent research has to limit splitting and to reduce the surface crack

 For severe exposure conditions – coated

indicated that it is possible to quantify cracking using width.
acoustic emission.
The sensors detect acoustic activity when the reinforcement, sealers and overlays on concrete
specimen undergoes cracking, and they are amplified. surface, corrosion inhibiting admixtures and

 Concrete should be allowed to breathe, that is,

Applying threshold levels to the activities helps in catholic protection.
detecting events produced by cracking as well as
background noise (Puri and Weiss, in press). While any concrete surface treatment must allow water
some applications of acoustic emission have been to evaporate from the concrete.
performed in the field, majority of the applications
have been performed in the laboratory. V. FINITE ELEMENT MODELING.
5.1 Reinforced Concrete.
4.5 Cracking due to Chemical Reaction: An eight-node solid element (SOLID65) was
Deleterious chemical reactions may cause used to model the concrete. The solid element has
cracking of concrete. These reactions may be due to eight nodes with three degrees of freedom at each
materials used to make the concrete or materials that node – translations in the nodal x , y , and z
come into contact with the concrete after it has directions. The element is capable of plastic
hardened. Concrete may crack with time as the result deformation, cracking in three orthogonal directions,
of slowly developing expansive reactions between and crushing.
aggregate containing active silica and alkalis derived
from cement hydration, admixtures or external 5.2 Steel Reinforcement.
sources (e.g. curing water, ground water, alkaline To model concrete reinforcing, one of two
solutions stored or used in the finished structure). methods is usually followed. In the first method, the
The alkali silica reaction results in the formation reinforcing is simulated as spar elements with
of a swelling gel, which tends to draw water from geometric properties similar to the original
other portions of the concrete. These causes local reinforcing. These elements can directly be generated
expansion and accompanying tensile stresses and may from the nodes in the model. This method of
eventually result in the complete deterioration of the discretization is useful in simple concrete models.
structure Certain carbonate rocks participate in The second idealization of steel reinforcing is the
reactions with alkalis, which in some instances smeared concrete element method (used in this
produce detrimental expansion & cracking. These are paper). In this case, the concrete and the reinforcing
usually associated with argillaceous dolomite are discretized into elements with the same
limestone.(Fig.4.1) geometrical boundaries and the effects of reinforcing
are averaged within the pertaining element (Fig. 2b).
Cracks can also be idealized into either the discrete
type or the smeared type.
Since the SOLID65-3D concrete element
simulates tension and compression in reinforcing

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bars, the volumetric ratio of reinforcing steel to Nonlinear Solution.

concrete along with the direction of the steel had to In nonlinear analysis, the total load applied to a
be provided for each volume, in order for the program finite element model is divided into a series of load
to account for the reinforcing steel. increments called load steps. At the completion of
each incremental solution, the stiffness matrix of the
5.3 FE Model Input Data. model is adjusted to reflect nonlinear changes in
For concrete, ANSYS requires input data for structural stiffness before proceeding to the next load
material properties as follows: elastic modulus Eb , increment. The ANSYS program uses Newton–
ultimate uniaxial compressive strength f c, ultimate Raphson equilibrium iterations for updating the
uniaxial tensile strength (modulus of rupture) f r , model stiffness. In this study, for the reinforced
Poisson‟s ratio _, shear transfer coefficient _, and concrete solid elements, convergence criteria were
compressive uniaxial stress-strain relationship for based on force and displacement, and the
concrete. The shear transfer coefficient, _, represents convergence tolerance limits were initially selected
conditions of the crack face. The value of _t ranges by the ANSYS program.
from 0 to 1.0, with 0 representing a smooth crack It was found that convergence of solutions for
(complete loss of shear transfer) and 1.0 representing the models was difficult to achieve due to the
a rough crack (no loss of shear transfer) (ANSYS nonlinear behaviour of reinforced concrete.
8.0). Therefore, the convergence tolerance limits were
The value of _ used in many studies of reinforced increased to a maximum of 5 times the default
concrete structures, however, varied between 0.2 and tolerance limits (0.5% for force checking and 5% for
0.5. A number of preliminary analyses were displacement checking) in order to obtain
attempted in this study with various values for the convergence of the solutions.
shear transfer coefficient within this range, but
convergence problems were encountered at low loads Load Stepping and Failure Definition for FE
with _ less than 0.2. Therefore, the shear transfer Models.
coefficient used in this study was equal to 0.3. For the nonlinear analysis, automatic time
stepping in the ANSYS program predicts and controls
5.4 Failure Criteria for Concrete. load step sizes. Based on the previous solution history
The model is capable of predicting failure for and the physics of the models, if the convergence
concrete materials. Both cracking and crushing behaviour is smooth, automatic time stepping will
failure modes are accounted for. The two input increase the load increment up to a selected
strength parameters – i.e., ultimate uniaxial tensile maximum load step size. If the convergence
and compressive strengths – are needed to define a behaviour is abrupt, automatic time stepping will
failure surface for the concrete. Consequently, a bisect the load increment until it is equal to a selected
criterion for failure of the concrete due to a multiaxial minimum load step size. The maximum and
stress state can be calculated. In a concrete element, minimum load step sizes are required for the
cracking occurs when the principal tensile stress in automatic time stepping.
any direction lies outside the failure surface.
After cracking, the elastic modulus of the Results.

 the different phases of the FE model behaviour

concrete element is set to zero in the direction parallel The goal of this study is to show:
to the principal tensile stress direction. Crushing

 yielding of steel until failure of the concrete

occurs when all principal stresses are compressive from initial cracking,
and lie outside the failure surface; subsequently, the

 the applicability of ANSYS software for

elastic modulus is set to zero in all directions, and the beam;
element effectively disappears.
analyzing and predicting of crack patterns in the

 The advantage of performing numerical

FE Discretization. reinforced concrete beam;
As an initial step, a finite element analysis
requires meshing of the model. In other words, the simulation instead of experimental tests in saving
model is divided into a number of small elements, time and costs.
and after loading, stress and strain are calculated at
integration points of these small elements. A beam is Behavior at First Cracking.
composed of two regions; a concrete element without The analysis of the linear region can be based on
reinforcement and a concrete element with a smeared the design for flexure for a reinforced concrete beam.
reinforcement. Comparisons were made in this region to ensure
deflections and stresses were consistent with the FE
model and the beam before cracking occurred. Once
cracking occurs, deflections and stresses become

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more difficult to predict. The stresses in the concrete Material may be spread and worked into the cracked
and steel immediately preceding initial cracking were area using a broom or squeegee. The excess material
analyzed. is then brushed off the surface before the polymer
The load at step 42602 was analyzed and it coincided hardens.
with a load of 42,602 N applied to the beam. To improve skid resistance sand may be spread
Calculations to obtain the concrete stress, steel stress on the polymer-coated area on bridge decks.
and deflection of the beam at a load of 42,602 N are Formwork or sealing would be needed to contain the
given in Appendix. A comparison of values obtained repair material in cracks extending to the bottom
from the FE model and Appendix can be seen in surface (ACI 345).
Table 5.2. The maximums exist in the constant-
moment region of the beam during load application. Pavements
Pavement cracks are always exposed to the
5.5 Behavior beyond First Cracking. elements and are affected by physical processes and
In the non-linear region of the response, chemical mechanisms. The physical processes
subsequent cracking occurs as more loads are applied include thermal contraction, drying shrinkage,
to the beam. Cracking increases in the constant wetting and drying, and freezing and thawing.
moment region, and the beam starts cracking out Chemical mechanisms refer to the reaction of the
towards the supports at a load of 50,000 N. aggregate within the concrete. The cracks start out
Significant flexural cracking occurs in the beam being only continuous through an inch from the top
at 60,000 N. Also, diagonal tension cracks are or bottom surface (depending on the mechanism that
beginning to form in the model at load of 70,000 and initiates the cracks), but can increase to full depth
90,000 N. This cracking can be seen in Figs. cracks in rare cases when other forms of deterioration
are present.
REPAIRING CRACKS In addition, fatigue cracks that initiate either
While books have been authored to provide an from the top or bottom surface depending on the
easy to use general guide to describe how concrete location of the critical load and the superimposition
can be repaired (Emmons, 1992), the following of stresses due to environmental factors, progress top-
section discusses crack repair in bridges, pavements down or bottom-up respectively with application of
and footings. additional traffic loads during the design life of the
pavement. The repair of plastic shrinkage cracks
Bridge Structures generally do not require major repair and can
Loose material is removed from cracks by generally be sealed to protect the underlying concrete
blowing the portion with compressed air or by hosing from infiltration of surface water, which has a direct
the area off with water. Just prior to the placement of effect on most deterioration mechanisms.
the repair material, the area is dried. According to the Lack of sealing major cracks can lead to spalling
ACI, structural cracks are V-grooved to a depth of 1 and other distress following freezing and thawing.
in. and then blown clean. Then the groove is filled Cracks where movement occurs are called working
with a neat epoxy. Latex-modified concrete can be cracks. According to the American Concrete Institute,
brushed into the groove instead of the epoxy when repair should cater for the anticipated movement. A
latex concrete is monolithically placed. suitably dimensioned recess should be cut along the
Concrete cracks as tight as 0.2 mm (0.008 in.) line of the crack and then sealed with an appropriate
may also be repaired by gravity-fill crack sealers. sealant with a bond breaker. A surface seal made with
These sealers are either low viscosity epoxy, or high a strip of formed sheet material may be appropriate in
molecular weight methacrylate, or urethane. certain circumstances.
To perform this method the concrete must be at The choice of sealant depends on the amount of
least 28 days old. The surface of the concrete must be movement forecast, and the limitations imposed by
dry and clean. To remove all dust, dirt, and debris, the size of the recess which can be cut, together with
compressed air can be used. The surface temperature the situation, i.e., vertical or horizontal.
should not be less that 13°C (55°F). There are three types of sealant in general use;
To ensure that the cracks are the most open, the mastics, thermoplastic and elastomers (ACI 345).
resin is applied during the lowest temperature of the Mastics are generally viscous liquids, such as non-
day. If the cracks are wider than 1 mm, they are filled drying oils, or low melting asphalts, with added fillers
with No. 50 sieve size silica sand before the polymer or fibers. They are usually recommended where the
is used. The sealer should be applied directly to the total movement will not exceed 15% of the width of
cracks and a few minutes should be allowed to allow the groove.
the sealer to seep down into the crack. The groove should be cut so that it has a depth-
If more sealer is needed, then additional to-width ratio of 2. Mastics remain plastic and will
applications are made until the crack is filled. not withstand heavy traffic or solvents. In hot weather

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the mastic will tend to be forced out by the expansion According to Crumpton and Stratton, cracks that
of the adjacent structures and the surplus flattened require repair because of structural stability problems
and/or removed by traffic. Dirt and debris can are normally repaired either by adding reinforcing,
become embedded in the material. Mastics are stitching, or applying an external stress. The first
typically the cheapest of the sealants but their use method is to drill holes [commonly ¾ in. (19 mm)]
should be restricted to vertical situations or those perpendicular to, and through the crack [at least 18 in.
which are protected from traffic (Evans et. al., 2001). (450 mm) deep]. These holes and crack plane are then
Thermoplastics become liquid or semi-viscous filled with epoxy under low pressure [maximum 1.4
when heated. The pouring temperatures are usually MPa (200 psi)], and reinforcing steel (commonly No.
above 38°C (100°F). They include asphalts, rubber- 4 or 5 bars) is inserted into the holes.
modified asphalts, pitches and coal tar. The groove A large crack in the landside wall of the
depth-to-width ratio is of the order of 1 and the total Eisenhower Lock was repaired by a similar method
design movement is of the order of 200% of the but using steel cable. Holes were drilled from a
groove width. Although these materials soften much gallery above the crack through the crack and into the
less than mastics, they may extrude at high ambient concrete next to the foundation. The cables were
temperatures and debris may become embedded. inserted from the gallery and anchored into the lower
Some of these materials are degraded by part of the structure, then tensioning from the gallery.
ultraviolet light and thus may become hardened and Stitching is a method used to repair surface cracks.
lose elasticity after a few years of exposure to direct Holes are drilled on both sides of the crack and
sunlight (Evans et. al., 2001). Elastomers include anchoring “dogs” (staples) are inserted into the holes
polysulphides, epoxy polysulphides, polyurethanes, either with nonshrink grout, expanding mortar, or
silicones and acrylics and may come as one part or epoxy. The stitching should be variable in length and
two part materials. They can have considerable orientation so that loads are not transmitted to a
advantages over other types of sealants in that they do single plane within the sound concrete. External
not have to be heated before application. In addition stressing is a repair technique that may have some
they typically exhibit favourable adhesion to concrete application in structural mass concrete.
and are not susceptible to softening within the normal Threaded steel rods are mounted on the surface
range of ambient temperatures. of the structure using steel mounting plates to anchor
Elastomers have a much higher degree of each end of the rod across the crack. The mounting
elongation than other sealants and many of them are plates are bolted into or through the structure.
capable of over 100% extension but in practice this Tension is applied along the rod with turnbuckles or
should be limited to ±25%. The groove depth-to- by tightening the anchoring nuts at the end of the rod.
width ratio should be 0.5. It is important to take steps (Crumpton and Stratton, 1983)
to prevent the materials from adhering to the bottom
of the grove; it should adhere to the sides only (Cady, 5.7 Behavior at Reinforcement Yielding and
1995; Evans et. al., 2001). Beyond It.
Yielding of steel reinforcement occurs when a
5.6 Footings force of 94,000 N is applied. At this point in the
The approach to repairing cracks depends on the response, the displacements of the beam begin to
effect the crack has on the structure. If structural increase at a higher rate as more loads are applied.
stability is the issue, then repair with a high-tensile- The cracked moment of inertia, yielding steel and
strength material is necessary. If leaking is the nonlinear concrete material, now defines the flexural
problem, then crack filling is required. The USACE rigidity of the member.
guidance (EM 1110-2-2002, 1995) on crack repair The ability of the beam to distribute load
first directs that a crack in mass concrete be analyzed throughout the cross section has diminished greatly
to determine whether it is active or not and whether Therefore, greater deflections occur at the beam
there is a structural-stability problem or a leakage centreline. Figure shows successive cracking of the
problem that must be repaired. concrete beam after yielding of the steel occurs. At
“Judicious neglect” is sometimes the chosen 94,000 N, the beam has increasing flexural cracks,
option. Crack arresting techniques are useful for and diagonal tension cracks. Also, more cracks have
stopping the propagation of a crack when it is caused now formed in the constant moment region. At
by restrained volume changes. This repair has been 110,000 N, cracking has reached the top of the beam,
used in mass concrete structures to prevent a crack and failure is soon to follow.
from propagating into an adjacent placement. The
simplest form of this repair technique is to place a Strength Limit State.
grid of reinforcing steel over the cracked area, then At load of 114,000 N, the beam can no longer
place concrete over the grid. support additional load as indicated by an
insurmountable convergence failure. Severe cracking

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T. Subramani et al Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.com
ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 6( Version 6), June 2014, pp.133-141

throughout the entire constant moment region occurs. Strengthened with FRP Lamiates, Final
Noteworthy is that just before the collapse few Report SPR 316, Oregon State University
splitting cracks (compressive cracks) appear at the (2001).
upper part of the beam due to crushing failure of the [7]. K. J. Willam, University of Colorado
concrete there. (Private communication) (1982).
[8]. . K. J. William and E. D. Warnke,
5.8 Load–Deflection Response. “Constitutive model for the triaxial
Load–deflection behaviour of concrete structures behaviour of concrete,” in: Proc. of the Int.
typically includes three stages. Stage I manifests the Association for Bridge and Structural
linear behaviour of uncracked elastic section. Stage II Engineering, ISMES, Bergamo (1975), Vol.
implies initiation of concrete cracking and Stage III 19, p. 174.
relies relatively on the yielding of steel [9]. K. J. Bathe, Finite Element Procedures,
reinforcements and the crushing of concrete. In Prentice-Hall Inc., New Jersey (1996). W. F.
nonlinear iterative algorithms, ANSYS 8.0 utilizes Chen and D. J. Han, Plasticity for Structural
Newton–Raphson method for the incremental load Engineers, Springer- Verlag, New York
analysis. (1988).
The full nonlinear load–deformation response is
shown in Fig. 10. The response calculated using FE
analysis is plotted. The entire load–deformation
response of the model produced well correlates with
the hand calculated results. This gave confidence in
the use of ANSYS and the model developed.

VI. CONCLUSION
Finite element models of 3.0 m ordinarily
reinforced concrete beams, constructed in ANSYS
V8.0 using the dedicated concrete elements have
accurately captured the nonlinear flexural response of
these systems up to failure. The dedicated element
employs a smeared crack model to allow for concrete
cracking with the option of modelling the
reinforcement in a distributed or discrete ways.
In terms of using finite element models to predict
the strength of existing beams, the assignment of
appropriate material properties is critical. ANSYS is
time saving and cost efficient tool that helps in
simulation and gives satisfactory results using
discrete approach.

REFERENCES
[1]. M. Y. H. Bangash, Concrete and Concrete
Structures: Numerical Modeling and
Applications, Elsevier Science Publishers
Ltd., London (1989).
[2]. Y. Hemmaty, “Modeling of the shear force
transferred between cracks in reinforced
and fibre reinforced concrete structures,” in:
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Pittsburgh, PA (1998).
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[5]. ANSYS – Engineering Analysis System.
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