The Influence of Variability in the Deformation Characteristics of Concrete and Reinforcement on the Load-Bearing Capacity of Eccentrically Compressed Reinforced Concrete Elements
Abstract
The Influence of Variability in the Deformation Characteristics of Concrete and Reinforcement on the Load-Bearing Capacity of Eccentrically Compressed Reinforced Concrete Elements
Incoming article date: 04.10.2025In reinforced concrete design standards, the values of concrete strain are taken as average values, whereas the strength characteristics are adopted with a high level of reliability. In the ultimate force method for calculating reinforced concrete structures, the strains of concrete and reinforcement are not directly used in the governing equations. In calculations based on the nonlinear deformation model, the strain values are directly used in the analysis. Using average values of the ultimate strains of concrete reduces the reliability of the obtained results. This study examines the influence of the variability of deformation characteristics of concrete and reinforcement on the load-bearing capacity of eccentrically compressed reinforced concrete elements. It was found that the variability of the deformation characteristics of concrete and reinforcement significantly affects the load-bearing capacity of eccentrically compressed reinforced concrete elements. This influence increases with the reinforcement ratio and depends on the eccentricity of the applied axial force. The reliability and safety of eccentrically compressed reinforced concrete elements decrease significantly when average values of the deformation characteristics of concrete and reinforcement are used in calculations.
Keywords: eccentric compression, reinforced concrete, variability of deformation characteristics, concrete, load-bearing capacity, reinforcement, nonlinear deformation model