FINITE ELEMENT ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL

PRECAST CONCRETE SLAB USING ANSYS

SOFTWARE
By
Amankrah Kojo Asare
Index No: 10442674
SUPERVISORS
DR. NII K ALLOTEY
DR. K A DANSO
1

OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT
OBJECTIVES AND AIMS
FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS
RECOMMENDATIONS
REFERENCES
2

 INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
Concrete is the worlds most used man-made construction material today.
When concrete is cast, the cement locks the aggregate together making the
concrete strong in compression.
However, this lock does not help the concrete much in tension and it is
therefore weak in tension.
To increase the tension capacity of the concrete and prevent cracks, it is
reinforced.

 Reinforced concrete does not always satisfactorily meet the required structural
demands, pre-stressing in these cases is therefore required.
Pre-stressing generate compressive stresses in concrete prior to loading. These
compressive stresses work to resist imposed tensile stresses.
Slab are plane structural members whose thickness is small in comparison to their
long and short spans. Slabs are mostly used for floors, roof covering and bridge
decks.
Concrete structural components act differently under different variety of loading
regimes.

 The identification and calculation of these responses is strenuous and requires lot
of expense and time.
Presently there are several techniques available to solve this problem, among
those techniques, the one widely used is the FINITE ELEMENT (FE) METHOD.
By using FE software (e.g., ANSYS, ATHENA, ADINA, etc.) with interactive
graphical facilities, it is possible to generate finite element models of complex
structures with ease.
And also obtain results in a convenient, readily assimilated form, that saves
valuable design time.

 RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT

RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT

Most traditional building structures in developing countries rely on the
conventional monolithic slab-beam-wall system kind of construction.
In these systems, the steel reinforcement placing and concrete casting
for the different structural elements are done on site.
This generally requires longer construction periods, as such, newer
approaches including the use of precast concrete slab systems have
gained ground in various developing countries, including Ghana.
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 With recent modularization of reactor plants, the use of precast concrete systems
is on the rise.
However, a number of these systems have not been studied in detail to ascertain
their load carrying characteristics.
This thesis seeks to assess the response characteristics of a typical system in
Ghana called the Trasacco Fast Floor system.
It is currently widely used in the Ghanaian industry as the floor system for the
floors of residential and commercial buildings.

 This thesis would use the FE method to study the deformation response of a typical

slab panel under monotonic vertical loading.

This would also enable an assessment to be made as to its competency as a potential

slab system for heavy industrial plants like nuclear power plants.

TRASACCO FAST FLOOR

10

 OBJECTIVES AND AIMS

11

OBJECTIVES
The main focus of the study will be on the nonlinear response of the precast
concrete slab using finite element modelling.
The three arching objectives of the study are:
To create a finite element model of the precast concrete slab using ANSYS
Version 13.0, and compare results of this model under monotonic vertical
loading with the technical data obtained from the Trasacco Group.

12

2. To understand how the combined mechanism of the beam-slab system

actually works under the imposed loading regime.
3. To assess whether the precast concrete slab system can be used in light and
heavy industrial infrastructure, e.g., for nuclear power plant construction

13

 FINITE ELEMENT (FE) MODELLING

14

FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING

The
basis of the finite element method is the representation of a body or a
structure by an assemblage of subdivisions called finite elements.
The Finite Element Method translates partial differential equation problems into a
set of linear algebraic equations.

Stiffness matrix Nodal

Nodal vector force
Displacement
Vector
15

 When creating a finite element model, an element type must first be chosen to
define the geometry and degrees of freedom.
There are numerous element type in ANSYS that can be used, e.g. link, beam,
plate, 3D solid and shell elements.
The main differences between these elements are due to amount of degrees of
freedom as well as possibilities of shape and how they deform.
The finite element modelling procedure in ANSYS is as follow:
16

:
ELEMENT TYPE
GEOMETRY
MATERIAL PROPERTIES

Isotropic or anisotropic
material

MESH DEFINITION

Including the load

introduction

BOUNDARY CONDITION
ANALYSIS

Static analysis

POST PROCESSING
17

 FE MODELLING: STEP 1
ELEMENT TYPE

18

 From the review of past works on reinforced and pre-stressed concrete structure
using ANSYS, Solid65 and Link180 element were used in all analysis,
This is because Solid65 element is the only element in ANSYS that is capable of
modelling the behaviour of reinforced concrete and both elements are capable of
plastic deformation.
For this study, the Solid65 element was used to model the concrete and the
Link180 element was used to model the tendons, stirrups and top bar.

19

 Solid65 element has eight nodes with three degrees of freedom at each node
translations in the nodal x, y, and z direction.
The element is capable of plastic deformation, cracking in three orthogonal
directions, and crushing.
Link180 element is a 3D element and it has two nodes with three degrees of
freedom translations in the nodal x, y, and z directions.
The element is also capable of plastic deformation.

20

 FE MODELLING: STEP 2
MATERIAL PROPERTIES

21

 Solid65 element requires linear isotropic and multi-linear isotropic material

properties to properly model the concrete material.
The multi-linear isotropic material uses the von Mises failure criterion along with
the Willam and Warnke (1974) model to define the failure of the concrete.
The linear isotropic properties for concrete are the modulus of elasticity and
Poisson's ratio.
The compressive uniaxial stress-strain relationship for the concrete model was
obtained using equations from British Standard Eurocode 2 (BS EC2, 2004) to
compute the multi-linear isotropic stress-strain curve for the concrete.
22

 The uniaxial stress-strain curve for C12 concrete is shown below:

23

 Implementation of the Willam and Warnke (1974) material model in ANSYS

requires that different constants be defined.
These constants are:
1. Shear transfer coefficients for an open crack;
2. Shear transfer coefficients for a closed crack;
3. Uniaxial tensile cracking stress;
4. Uniaxial crushing stress (positive);

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 Typical shear transfer coefficients range from 0.0 to 1.0, with 0.0 representing a
smooth crack (complete loss of shear transfer) and 1.0 representing a rough crack
(no loss of shear transfer).
The shear transfer coefficients for open and closed cracks were determined using
the work of Kachlakev, et al. (2001) as a basis.
Convergence problems occurred when the shear transfer coefficient for the open
crack dropped below 0.2. Therefore, the coefficient for the open crack was set to
0.4.

25

 The uniaxial cracking and crushing stress was determined from the European
Standards for Reinforced Concrete (BS EC2 (2004)).
The Link180 element was used to model all stirrups in the beam and tendons in
the joist. The stress-strain behaviour is assumed to be bilinear isotropic for the
stirrups located in the beam.
Bilinear isotropic material is also based on the von Mises failure criteria. The
bilinear model requires the yield stress, as well as the hardening modulus of the
steel to be defined.

26

 For the tendons which are pre-stressed, it requires the multi-linear isotropic
properties. The pre-stressing tendons was modelled using a multi-linear stressstrain curve.

27

 Materials Table
MATERIAL 1
CONCRETE C12
linear isotropic
Ex
v
27000MPa

0.2

multilinear isotropic

MATERIAL 2
CONCRETE C30
linear isotropic
Ex
v
33000MPa

0.2

multilinear isotropic

MATERIAL 3
CONCRETE C55
linear isotropic
Ex
v
38000 Mpa

0.2

multilinear isotropic

strain

stress

strain

stress

strain

stress

0.000148148

0.000230303

7.6

0.000331579

12.6

0.000598148

12.4646

0.000780303

22.2094

0.001081579

38.26019

0.001098148

17.7248

0.001380303

32.7444

0.001681579

53.61919

0.001398148

19.30213

0.001780303

36.62378

0.002081579

60.2977

0.001798148

19.9999

0.002180303

37.99697

0.002481579

62.9942

concrete properties

concrete properties

MATERIAL 4
COLUMN
linear isotropic
Ex
v
100000
0.2
MPa

MATERIAL 6
STIRRUPS
linear isotropic
Ex
v
200000 Mpa

0.3

Bilinear isotropic
yield stress

250 Mpa

MATERIAL 5
TENDONS
linear isotropic
Ex
v
193050 Mpa

0.3

Multilinear isotropic
See curve data

concrete properties

open

0.4

open

0.4

open

0.4

closed

0.8

closed

0.8

closed

0.8

cracking

1.6

cracking

2.9

cracking

4.2

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 FE MODELLING: STEP 3 AND 4

GEOMETRY AND MESHING

29

 The slab, beams, and columns were modelled as volumes. The combined volumes
are shown below:

column

beam

slab

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 The mesh size was set up such that square or rectangular elements with a
maximum aspect ratio of 4 were created.
The final mesh had over 63000 nodes and 57000 elements. This mesh size gave a
solution time of 2 days on a 64-bit 1.7 GHz quad core processor.
The tendons and stirrups were created through the nodes created by the mesh of
the concrete volume.
After meshing, some elements were modified to enable the joist be properly
placed.

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 The meshed model is shown below:

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 The joist rest on the beam before the hollow blocks are placed. For this model, the
hollow block were made to have the same material properties as the slab.

33

 A total of 14 T4 joists were used in this model with each having its own tendons.
A T4 joist has four tendons but in this model only a tendon was used.
The cross sectional area of the tendons were multiplied by 4 to represent the
single tendon used.
The stirrups were designed using the nodes of the beam and some part the steel
bar extended into the slab from both ends.
The 14 T4 joist sit on the beam 50 mm at both ends. In reality, the joint between
the joist and the beam is not a fully fixed condition, but for this study, a fixed
condition was assumed.
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 The combined beam and joist system is shown below:

35

 FE MODELLING: STEP 5 AND 6

BOUNDARY CONDITION AND LOADING

36

 Displacement boundary conditions are needed to constrain the model to get a

unique solution.
If the model is not properly constrained, large displacement or stresses can occur,
which interrupt the solution process.
The model was constrained by fixing the nodes at the base of the column.
The pre-stress loading was applied with an initialization command code.
Subsequent loads ranging from 0 200 kpa were applied as surface loads on the
slab.

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 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

38

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Behavior at First Cracking:
From the load deflection response, it is clear that the initial portion of the load

deflection curve was due to the pre-stress in the joist.

Comparisons were made in this region to ensure the stresses were consistent with

the ANSYS model and Trasacco technical data.

Once cracking occurs, deflections and stresses become more difficult to predict.

The table below shows the stresses from the ANSYS model at 900 MPa pre-stress
and the technical data
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 The table below shows the stresses from the ANSYS model at 900 MPa
pre-stress and the technical data:
Material

ANSYS model
Trasacco data
=+0.61
=+1.65
Joist concrete
=1.56
=2.09
A phenomenon occurred when the pre-stress was added. There was
Tendons
900 MPa
1400 MPa
bursting in the concrete where the pre-stress force is being applied. This
resulted in the first initial crack experience by the model

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 Initial cracking due to pre-stressing is shown below:

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 Behavior beyond First Cracking:

In the non-linear region of the response, subsequent cracking occurs as more
loads are applied to the ANSYS model.
Cracking increases in the center of the beam at a surface load of 7.8 kPa. This
intense cracking was also transferred to the slab up to a certain height.
Flexural crack and diagonal tension cracks were observed. This cracking can
be seen in the next slide.

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 Flexural cracking and diagonal tension cracking

Flexural crack

Diagonal tension crack

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 Behavior at reinforcement yielding:

Yielding of steel reinforcement in the slab occurred when a surface load of
13.5 kPa was reached.
The cracked moment of inertia, yielding steel and nonlinear concrete material,
now define the flexural rigidity of the concrete members.
Therefore, greater deflections occur at the ANSYS model centerline. The next
slide shows the successive cracking after yielding of the steel occurs.

44

45

 Strength Limit State:

At a surface load of 14 kPa, the ANSYS model could no longer support
additional load as indicated by an insurmountable convergence failure.
Severe cracking throughout the entire section at the constant moment region
was noted at this point.

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 Load-Deflection Response:
Loaddeflection behavior of concrete structures typically includes three
stages:
Stage I manifests the linear behavior of un-cracked elastic section.
Stage II implies initiation of concrete cracking and
Stage III relies relatively on the yielding of steel reinforcements and the
crushing of concrete

47

 ANSYS 13.0 utilizes NewtonRaphson method for the incremental load

analysis. The full nonlinear loaddeflection response for the analysis was
similar to the load-deflection behaviour of concrete structures.

intense cracking in the beam

failure point

elastic region

pre-stress stage

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 ANSYS FE model, Design code and Trasacco data comparison:

The ANSYS FE model service loads are estimated as the load at which
cracking starts in the slab, the ultimate load is taken as the point at which the
model fails.
Service load

Ultimate load

FE model

9.9 kPa

13.8 kPa

Eurocode code

8.45 kPa

11.86 kPa

Trasacco data

9.12 kPa

13.2 kPa
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 From the table, the service load and the ultimate load in the ANSYS model
are slightly higher than both loads from the Eurocode design and Trasacco
data.
However, the comparison is noted to be satisfactory and it can be noted
that the ANSYS FE model is very capable of predicting the nonlinear
response of the Trasacco floor system.

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 Comparing this to the live load values for light to heavy industrial
structures that ranges from 6 11.7 kPa, to that of office buildings that
ranges from 2 3.0 kPa (BS EC1, 2002), it can be inferred that the
Trasacco fast floor can be used for light and heavy industrial structure like
the nuclear facilities.

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 CONCLUSIONS

52

CONCLUSIONS
The main conclusions that can be drawn from this study are listed below as
follows:
1. The finite element model used in this present study is clearly capable of
simulating the nonlinear behaviour of the Trasacco precast concrete slab
under monotonic vertical loading.
2. The results reveal the accuracy and efficiency of the developed ANSYS 13
model in predicting the load-deformation behaviour and crack pattern .

53

3. Comparison of the results of the model with the British EuroCode design
manual and the Trasacco group floor data, shows the potential for the floor
system to used light and heavy industrial structures like the nuclear
facilities.

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 RECOMMENDATIONS

55

RECOMMENDATIONS
The following are the recommendations for future work:
1. Further analysis should be performed on a two bay slab system since this
study focused on a single bay slab system.
2. It is important that analysis is conducted to asses the monotonic horizontal
load-deformation response, as would occur under extreme seismic action.
3. It is also important to conduct this same study for the case of the double joist
system.

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4. And lastly, a full model of a nuclear facilities with the fast floor system, can
be analysed under the various loading conditions to assess the response.

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 REFERENCE

58

REFERENCE
ANSYS (Release 12), 2009. Theory Reference for the Mechanical APDL and
Mechanical applications.
BS EC1 (2002). Eurocode 1: Actions on structures - Part 1-1: General actions Densities, self-weight, imposed loads for buildings, British Standards Institution.
BS EC2 (2004). Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures - Part 1-1: General
rules and rules for buildings, British Standards Institution

59

 Courland, R. (2011). Concrete planet: the strange and fascinating story of the
worlds most common man-made material. Amherst, N.Y: Prometheus Books.
Kachlakev, D.I.; Miller, T.; Yim, S.; Chansawat, K.; Potisuk, T. (2001), Finite
Element Modelling of Reinforced Concrete Structures Strengthened With FRP
Laminates, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA and
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR for Oregon Department of Transportation,
May.

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 Strescon (2014). Trasacco Floor Structural Design Drawings for TAYSEC

Apartments, Strescon Engineering Consultancy Limited.
Tommaso Delpero, Gregoire Lepoittevin, Alberto Sanchez. Finite Element
Modelling with ANSYS. Strukturlabor, Spring Semester 2010.
Trasacco Group (2005). Floor Slab with Prestressed Concrete Joists and Hollow
Blocks: Single Joist and Double Joist, Trasacco Group Publication.

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 William K.J. and Warnke E.P. 1975. Constitutive Model for the Triaxial Behavior
of Concrete. Proceedings of the International Association for Bridge and
Structural Engineering, ISMES, Bergamo, Italy. Vol. 19.

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THANK YOU

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