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CHAPTER 7

FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATIONS

7.1 INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE

In this study, the finite element analysis is proposed as an

alternative and complementary method for the design of composite columns.
Both strength and ductility of DSHCFT columns subjected to uniform central
compression loading are considered. This design procedure is applicable to
the columns with hinged supports as boundary conditions at the ends. A
design procedure using finite element method which was earlier given by
(Chai et al. 2000 and Zheng & Usami 2000) few reports on ductility are
available so far from the review of literature.

To study the behavior of new DSHCFT columns, expensive, time

taking, and sophisticated experimental analyses are required. If appropriate
and dependable numerical model is developed, however, a wider parametric
study can be made and a saving in time and cost can be accomplished.

Typically, the behavior of DSHCFT columns is studied by full-

scale experimental investigations. The results are compared to analytical
calculations that predict ultimate strength and deflections of the columns.
Finite element anlaysis can be used as a tool to model the behavior
numerically to confirm these calculations, and also to obtain a validated
experimented investigation, particularly in parametric studies. Finite element
analysis, as used in structural engineering, determines the overall behavior of
a structure by dividing it into number of simple elements, each of such
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elements has well –defined mechanical and physical properties (Kwak &
Filippou 1990).

This chapter contains a report on the investigation made using

finite element method (FEM). Models were developed to simulate the
behavior of double skinned hollow concrete filled tubular composite columns
from linear through nonlinear response up to failure. Modelling
simplifications and assumptions developed during this research are presented.
To create the models, commercial finite element software (ANSYS 2012) was
used in this numerical study.

7.2 ANSYS

Advances in computational features and software have brought the

finite element method within the reach of both academic research and
engineers in practice by means of general-purpose nonlinear finite element
analysis packages, with one of the most used package nowadays being
ANSYS. The program offers a wide range of options regarding element types,
material behavior and numerical solution controls as well as graphic user
interfaces, auto-meshers and sophisticated postprocessors and graphics to
speed the analyses. ANSYS includes dedicated numerical models for the
nonlinear response of concrete under loading. These models usually include a
smeared crack analogy to account for the relatively poor tensile strength of
concrete, a plasticity algorithm to facilitate concrete crushing in compression
regions and a method of specifying the amount, distribution and the
orientation of any internal reinforcement.

The internal reinforcement may be modelled as an additional

smeared stiffness distributed through an element in a specified orientation or
alternatively by using discrete strut or beam elements connected to the solid
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elements. The beam elements would allow the internal reinforcement to

develop shear stresses but as these elements in ANSYS are linear, no plastic
deformation of the reinforcement is possible. The smeared stiffness and link
modelling options allow the elastic-plastic response of the reinforcement to be
included in the simulation at the expense of the shear stiffness of the
reinforcing bars.

7.3 COMPUTER MODELING OF STRUCTURES

Modelling is one of the most important aspects for the FE analysis.

Accuracy in the modelling of element type and size, geometry, material
properties, boundary conditions and loads are of absolute necessity for close
numerical idealization of the actual member.

7.3.1 Element Type

The following were the element types used in the simulation.

 SOLID 65

 CONTA174

 TARGE170

element was used for concrete. It is an eight- node solid

element. The solid element has eight nodes with three degrees of freedom at
each node - translations in the nodal x, y, and z directions. The element is
capable of undergoing plastic deformation, cracking in three orthogonal
directions, and crushing. The geometry and node locations for this element
type are shown in Figure 7.1. For steel ( patta and tubes ), 20 NODE SOLID
186 element was used. For contact – CONTA 174 & TARGE170 elements
were used. The CONTA174 Element is 3-D 8-Node Surface-to-Surface
Contact element. CONTA174 is used to represent contact and sliding between
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3-D "target" surfaces (TARGE170) and a deformable surface, defined by this

element. The element is applicable to 3-D structural and coupled field contact
analyses.

Figure 7.1 SOLID 65 – 3D Reinforced Concrete Solid

The element is located on the surfaces of 3-D solid or shell

elements with midside nodes. The element has the same geometric
characteristics as the solid or shell element face with which it is connected.
The element also allows separation of bonded contact to simulate interface.

Figure 7.2 CONTA174

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3-D Target Segment was used for creating surfaces. TARGE170

Element was used to represent various 3-D "target" surfaces for the associated
contact elements. The contact elements themselves overlay the solid, shell, or
line elements describing the boundary of a deformable body and are
potentially in contact with the target surface, defined by TARGE170. For
rigid target surfaces, these elements can easily model complex target shapes.
For flexible targets, these elements will overlay the solid, shell, or line
elements describing the boundary of the deformable target body.

Figure 7.3 TARGE170

SOLID186 is a higher order 3-D 20-node solid element that

exhibits quadratic displacement behavior. The element is defined by 20 nodes
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having three degrees of freedom per node: translations in the nodal x, y, and z
directions. The element supports plasticity, hyperelasticity, creep, stress
stiffening, large deflection, and large strain capabilities. It also has mixed
formulation capability for simulating deformations of nearly incompressible
elastoplastic materials, and fully incompressible hyperelastic materials.

Figure 7.4 Solid 186 Homogeneous structural solid geometry

7.3.2 Joint Configuration

7.3.2.1 For concrete not filled case

At four tack-welded regions of rectangular beam and inner tube is

assigned as bonded connection and remaining faces in contact with inner tube
is assigned with low friction or frictionless support.

7.3.2.2 For concrete filled case

Tack welded region of rectangular beam and inner tube is assigned

as bonded connection and remaining faces in contact with inner tube is
assigned with low friction or frictionless support.
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The connection between concrete, steel tube and steel patta are
assigned with high frictional embedded condition.

7.3.3 Material Properties

Concrete

Development of a model for the behavior of concrete is a

challenging task. Concrete is a quasi-brittle material and has different
behavior in compression and tension. Material nonlinearity was used in the
analysis.

Following are the input data required to create the material model
for concrete in ANSYS.

 Elastic modulus (Ec)

 Poisson‟s ratio (v)

 Ultimate uniaxial compressive strength (fck)

 Ultimate uniaxial tensile strength (ft)

 Coefficient for opened crack (βo)

 Coefficient for closed crack (βc)

The elastic modulus and ultimate uniaxial tensile strength of

concrete is found using the following equations:

Ec = 5000 √ fck

ft = 0.6 √ fck

Where,

Ec , fck , ft , are in MPa

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Poisson‟s ratio or concrete was assumed to be 0.2 for concrete.

Coefficient for opened crack is 0.2 and for closed crack is 1.

Generally the above parameters are enough for the ANSYS non-
linear concrete model, however, in addition, it is better to keep a stress-strain
curve of concrete as a basis for obtaining sufficient accuracy in results.

The stress-strain curve for concrete can be constructed by using the

Desayi & Krishnan (1964). Multi-linear isotropic behavior is assumed for the
stress-strain relationship of concrete, which is shown in Figure 7.4.

Figure 7.5 Simplified Compressive Uniaxial Stress- Strain Curve for

Concrete

It is assumed that the curve is linear up to 0.3fc‟. Therefore, the

elastic stress-strain relation is enough for finding out the strain value.

ε1 = fc‟/Ec = (0.3 fc‟)/Ec (7.1)

The ultimate strain can be found out from the following formula.

ε0 = 2 fc‟/Ec (7.2)
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The total strain in the non-linear region is calculated and

corresponding stresses for the strains are found out by using the following
formula

fc ( 2, 3 & 4) = (Ec ε)/(1+( ε /ε0)2) (7.3)

The above input values are given as material properties for

concrete to define the non-linearity.

In compression, the stress-strain curve of concrete is linearly

elastic up to about 30% of the maximum compressive strength. Above this
point, the stress increases gradually up to the maximum compressive strength,
and then descends into a softening region and eventually crushing failure
occurs at an ultimate strain εcu. In tension, the stress-strain curve for
concrete is approximately linearly elastic up to the maximum tensile strength.
After this point, the concrete cracks and the strength decreases gradually to
zero.

ANSYS has its own non-linear material model for concrete. Its
reinforced concrete model consists of a material model to predict the failure
of brittle materials, applied to a three-dimensional solid element in which
reinforcing bars may be included. The material is capable of cracking in
tension and crushing in compression. It can also undergo plastic deformation
and creep. Three different uniaxial materials, capable of tension and
compression only may be used as a smeared reinforcement, each one in any
direction. Plastic behavior and creep can be considered in the reinforcing bars
too. For plain cement concrete model, the reinforcing bars are be removed.
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7.3.4 Failure Criteria for Concrete

ANSYS non-linear concrete model requires at least two strength

parameters to define the failure surface of concrete. Once the failure is
surpassed concrete cracks if any, principal stresses are tensile while crushing
occurs if at all the principal stresses are compressive. Tensile failure consists
of a maximum tensile stress criterion. Unless plastic deformation is taken into
account, the material behavior is linearly elastic until failure. When the failure
surface is reached, stresses in that direction have a sudden drop to zero,
provided there is no strain softening neither in compression nor in tension.
This indicates that the descending portion in stress-strain curve of concrete is
not considered in ANSYS non-linear concrete model.

Figure 7.6 3-D Failure Surface for Concrete

A three-dimensional failure surface for concrete is shown in

Figure 7.6. The most significant non-zero principal stresses are in the x and y
directions respectively. Three failure surfaces are shown as the projections on
the ζxp-ζyp plane. The modes of failure are the function of the sign of ζZP
(principal stress in Z direction). For example, if ζxp and ζyp, both are
negative (compressive) and ζZP is slightly positive (tensile), cracking would
be predicted in a direction perpendicular to ζZP. However, if ζZP is zero or
slightly negative, the material is assumed to crush. In a concrete element,
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cracking occurs when the principal tensile stress in any direction lies outside
the failure surface. After cracking, the elastic modulus of concrete element is
set to zero in the direction parallel to the principal tensile stress direction.
Crushing occurs when all principal stresses are compressive and lie outside
the failure surface. Subsequently, the elastic modulus is set to zero in all
directions and the element effectively disappears.

7.3.5 Non-Linear Material Model for Steel

The steel for the finite element models was assumed to be an

elastic-perfectly plastic material and identical in tension and compression.
Properties like Young‟s modulus and yield stress, for the steel reinforcement
used in this FEM study were found out by conducting the required tests on the
sample specimens. Poisson‟s ratio of 0.3 was used for the steel reinforcement.
Bilinear kinematic material model was adopted in this study. Figure 7.6
shows the stress-strain relationship used in this study.

Figure 7.7 Stress-Strain Curve for Steel

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The material properties used for modeling all the columns are
shown in Table 7.1.These values were used for calculating the important
properties required for specifying material non-linearity.

7.3.6 Cold – Formed Steel Sheets

The material model of CR sheets for finite element models was

assumed to be an elastic-perfectly plastic material and identical in
compression and tension. Properties like Young‟s modulus and yield stress
are used in this analysis. Poisson‟s ratio of 0.3 was used for the steel
reinforcement.

7.4 FINITE ELEMENT DISCRETIZATION

The first step in finite element analysis after the creation of the
model is meshing. In other words, the model is divided into number of finite
elements, and after loading, the deflection patterns of the model are obtained.
The accuracy of the results is directly proportional to the number of elements
chosen. But if the number of elements goes beyond the limit, the running time
to get the solution is more and convergence problem will arise. Thus there
should be an optimum number of elements using which we get reliable and
accurate results.

7.5 MODEL ANALYSIS

Series 2: Specimen ID: G2-M30

Figure 7.8 to 7.11 show the modeling , total deformation,

directional deformation and normal stress of G2-M30
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Figure 7.8 Modelling of G2-M30 Figure 7.9 Total deformation of

G2- M30

Figure 7.10 Directional Figure 7.11 Normal stress of

Deformation of G2- G2-M30
M30
Series 3: Specimen ID: G3-λ35

Figure 7.12 Modelling of G3- λ35 Figure 7.13 Meshing of G3- λ35
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Figure 7.14 Deformed shape of Figure 7.15 Normal stress of

G3- λ35 G3- λ35

Figure 7.12 to 7.15 shows the modelling, meshing, deformed shape

and normal stress of G3-λ35

Series 6: Specimen ID: SP6-CL

Figure 7.16 to 7.19 show the modeling, total deformation,

directional deformation and normal stress SP6-CL.

Figure 7.16 Modelling of SP6-CL Figure 7.17 Total Deformation

of SP6-CL
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Figure 7.18 Directional Figure 7.19 Normal Stress

Deformation of SP6- (Z Axis) of SP6-CL
CL

Series 7: Specimen ID: S3

Figure 7.20 to Figure 7.23 shows the modelling, normal stress

and directional deformation of S3.

Figure 7.20 Modelling of S3 Figure 7.21 Meshing of S3

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Figure 7.22 Normal Stress in S3 Figure 7.23 Directional

Deformation in S3
Series 7: Specimen ID: S4

Figure 7.24 to Figure 7.27 shows the modeling, meshing, normal

stress and total deformation of S4.

Figure 7.24 Modelling of S4 Figure 7.25 Meshing of S4

Figure 7.26 Normal Stress of S4 Figure 7.27 Total Deformation

of S4
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Series 9: Addition of mild steel-patta with steel tube

Figure 7.28 to Figure 7.33 shows the modelling, top view,

bonding, section, meshing and total deformation of the specimen DS-E-IT.
Figure 7.34 to Figure 7.37 External failure, Internal failure, directional
deformation and normal stress of DS-E-IT.

Figure 7.28 Modelling of DS-E-IT Figure 7.29 Top view of DS-E-IT

Figure 7.30 Bonding in DS-E-IT Figure 7.31 Section of DS-E-IT

Figure7.32 Meshing of DS-E-IT Figure 7.33 Total Deformation

of DS-E-IT
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Figure 7.34 External Failure in Figure 7.35 Internal Failure of

DS-E-IT DS-E-IT

Figure 7.36 Directional Figure 7.37 Normal Stress of DS-

E-IT
Deformation of DS-E-IT

7.6 KEY FINDINGS

From the finite element analysis the following conclusions were

drawn. Numerical simulation using ANSYS version 14.5 was done on
selected Six specimens, out of them G2-M30 from Series 2, G3- λ35 is from
series 3, SP6-CL, from series-6, S3 and S4 from series 7, and DS-E-IT from
series 9 were Analysed. Results of the numerical simulations were compared
with the experimental findings. Apparently, good agreement has been
obtained from the comparison. The adopted numerical simulation method is
applicable for analyzing the similar DSHCFT Columns of both filed and
empty.