Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Membranes

A procedure is described whereby linear elastic finite element routines can be modified to enable nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete membrane structures. The proposed procedure is based on an interative, secant stiffness formulation and employs constitutive relations for concrete and reinforcement based on the modified compression field theory. Predictions from the proposed procedure are compared against experimental results, as well as against more complex fourmulations, and excellent accuracy is found. Example analyses and potential applications of the nonlinear procedure are also described.