Simulation of Ducts and Passages with Negative-Area Spatial Truss Element in 3D Creep Analysis of Reinforced Concrete and Prestressed Concrete Bridge

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Simulation of Ducts and Passages with Negative-Area Spatial Truss Element in 3D Creep Analysis of Reinforced Concrete and Prestressed Concrete Bridge

Chang, Haocheng / Ma, Rujin

A new 3D finite element model is presented to analyze creep in reinforced concrete (RC) and prestressed concrete (PC) bridges. The proposed hybrid model uses a 12-node solid element to simulate concrete and a 2-node truss element to simulate rebars, the volume occupied by rebars in concrete and ducts. Structures are meshed with a special meshing technique and truss element connects with solid element through non-nodal connection. In this study, an additional two-node spatial truss element with a negative area is introduced to consider the non-negligible influence of rebar ducts in concrete and obtain a more precise and efficient simulation of RC and PC bridges. Different uses of the truss element with a negative area in both RC and PC structures are also explained, and two drop-frame cases and associated construction stages are investigated to validate the applicability of this model. The construction process analysis of a simplified PC continuous rigid frame bridge is also conducted in this study to further demonstrate the ability of the newly developed program to capture shear lag effect. The results show that the proposed model with negative-area truss elements enables the long-term behavior of RC and PC structures to be effectively predicted.