Crack Identification in Reinforced Concrete Beams Using Ansys Software

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.