Damage analysis of reinforced concrete structures based on higher-order beam theories

Numerical damage analysis in reinforced concrete structures encounters two challenges: a lack of objectivity due to strain softening and the heavy computational costs required for refined models. This work aims to address these issues with advanced numerical models developed from higher-order beam theories in the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF) framework. The Component-Wise (CW) approach, a development within CUF, enables simultaneous simulation of concrete and steel materials with their actual geometries in reinforced concrete structures. The Node-Dependent-Kinematic (NDK) method is a global-local strategy to optimize the balance between accuracy and computational efficiency. A modified Mazars damage model with fracture energy regularization technique is adopted, where new crack bandwidth estimations are proposed espe-cially for higher-order beam elements. A numerical example shows that the proposed model can obtain the mesh-size independent performance of concrete structures and save many Degrees of Freedom (DOFs).