Nonlinear dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete shell structures

In this paper, a nonlinear finite element procedure is presented for the dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete shell structures. A computer program, named RCAHEST (Reinforced Concrete Analysis in Higher Evaluation System Technology), was used. A 4-node flat shell element with drilling rotational stiffness was used for spatial discretization. The layered approach was used to discretize the behavior of concrete and reinforcement in the thickness direction. Material nonlinearity was taken into account by using tensile, compressive and shear models of cracked concrete and a model of reinforcing steel. The smeared crack approach was incorporated. The low-cycle fatigue of both concrete and reinforcing bars was also considered to predict a reliable dynamic behavior. The solution to the dynamic response of reinforced concrete shell structures was obtained by numerical integration of the nonlinear equations of motion using Hilber-Hughes-Taylor (HHT) algorithm. The proposed numerical method for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete shell structures was verified by comparison of its results with reliable experimental and analytical results.