Experimental and numerical analysis of crack parameters of reinforced concrete beams

This study deals with experimental and numerical cracking analysis of full–scale reinforced concrete (RC) beams. Four RC beams of the rectangular section were tested under a four-point bending configuration. Crack development of test beams was recorded throughout the pure bending zone using an electronic microscope and digital cameras. Crack pattern has been obtained using digital image correlation (DIC) technique. Numerical analysis of experimental elements at macro level was performed using the finite element (FE) software package ATENA considering a plane stress state with non-linear constitutive laws for concrete and reinforcement. Comparison of experimental and numerical results has shown that FE modelling can be considered as a reliable tool for planning experimental research programs. Adequately developed finite element numerical models of RC members provide the possibilities to insight the tendencies and mechanism of possible crack propagation as well as changes of crack parameters.