Numerical analysis of structural behavior of welded wire reinforcement in reinforced concrete beams

Abstract

Modernization and industrialization have paved the way for the construction industry of India to expand. On the other hand the Indian construction industry is set to face an acute workforce shortage. The shortage of construction workers has in fact slowed down the growth of this industry in major cities across the country and escalated its cost by 40 percent. An alternative way to replace the labor force is by automation techniques. This study is a numerical analysis to evaluate structural behavior of simply supported concrete beams reinforced with welded wires in comparison with mild steel reinforced concrete beams. Welding conventional steel bars (60 ksi) reduces their shear strength by 50 percent. Welded Wire Reinforcement (80 ksi), with its greater strength, higher durability, significantly lower placing and overall cost, provides an alternative and perhaps a better substitution for mild steel bars. The commercial finite element analysis program, ABAQUS, was used to model the non-linear behavior of reinforced concrete beams. In order to evaluate the structural behavior of welded wire reinforced concrete beams, different configurations of longitudinal and transverse wires have been considered. First, different types of stirrup configurations in a rectangular reinforced concrete beam are compared with a conventional reinforced beam. Second, a structurally performing welded wire configuration is compared with a Mexican chair styled reinforcement configuration. This part of the analysis is evaluated for a T–beam, used for building roof applications.