الفهرس 
SummaryOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 192 |  |  |
| | | from | 192 | | |
Abstract
The real nature of all structural materials especially that of structural concrete, is very intricate and puzzling. Therefore, the designers need models as a medium between their capabilities and reality. Without such models of abstraction and simplification designers would be completely subject to trial and error, aworthless method especially in structural engineering where each object is a prototype which has to be invented anew and whose behavior has to be predicted. Since there cannot be one model for all cases but several, such as strut-and-tie models and nonlinear finite element analysis, the question which is best automatically arises. This study demonstrates the applicability of the strut-and-tie modeling method along with the 3D nonlinear finite element analysis, utilizing ABAQUS software, when predicting the capacity of reinforced concrete deep beams with and without openings. The two methods have been applied to two groups of full-size reinforced concrete continuous deep beams subjected to concentrated loads; two concentrated loads at the middle of spans for each beam. The first group of beams did not have openings while the second group had large openings, and the two groups had been tested experimentally. The proposed planar strut-and-tie models had been compared with the output results of the 3D nonlinear finite element analysis. Also, in this study, 3D nonlinear finite element analysis has been conducted on a group ofpile caps and a double cantilever corbel that had been experimentally tested and the output results of the deflection, stress distribution, and stress trajectories (that can’t be obtained using the strut-and-tie model) are obtained and compared with the experimental results in order to verify the validity of the FEM procedure. The obtained results demonstrate the accuracy and power of the finite element method in dealing with both problems of pile caps and corbels. The method of 3D strut-and-tie model has been applied to the selected pile caps that had been examined with aid of the finite element. The spatial nature of pile caps has been reflected on the strength of struts and nodes of strut-and-tie models. The obtained results, also,demonstrate the reliability of the strut-and-tie model method in obtaining a lower bound estimate of the collapse load of pile caps.