Development of a design software for strengthening structural components with TRC
Table of contents
Project data
| Titel | Title Entwicklung einer Bemessungssoftware für Bauteilverstärkungen aus Textilbeton | Development of a design software for strengthening structural components with TRC Förderer | Funding Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi); Projektträger: AiF Projekt GmbH Zeitraum | Period 11.2012 − 04.2015 Leiter | Project Manager Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Ulrich Häußler-Combe Bearbeiter | Contributor Dipl.-Ing. Jörg Weselek Projektpartner | Project Partner mb AEC Software GmbH, Kaiserslautern |
Report in the yearbook 2014
Software Module for Textile Reinforced Concrete – Design made easy!
Stress-strain behavior of retrofitted cross section
Textile reinforced concrete (TRC), as a novel and innovative material with a high potential for rehabilitation and strengthening of structures, will not be accepted, if there is not a design tool suitable for this material. Therefore, a cooperative project between the Institute of Concrete Structures and the established software-company mb AEC Software GmbH, headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, has been launched. The project aims to the development of a modularized add-on Software, named Baustatik® of the mentioned company, which is well accepted in the German speaking area.
The module is based on the extensive knowledge, which was gained in the DFG collaborative research center SFB 528. A beta version is currently available, which creates a design for the strengthening of structures under flexural loadings. The underlying algorithm was derived from the general design regulations , called “Allgemeine bauaufsichtliche Zulassung für ein Verfahren zur Verstärkung von Stahlbeton mit TUDALIT (textilbewehrter Beton)”. This regulation was issued in the summer of 2014 by the national institute for standardization DIBt. For verification, the traditional method for bending design of reinforced concrete structures is adopted and partially extended.
By inputting mandatory system and loading properties, a process chain becomes possible which replaces default values and permits an instant design procedure. Furthermore, an interactive help system enables an adequate overview about the basics of TRC and its strengthening capabilities to the user. The system is illustrated in tabular and graphical format. The development of stress resultants and the strain distribution in the cross section is graphically printed out.
At present, the Institute of Concrete Structures is involved in the editorial work for the abovementioned help system. Besides that, numerous test scenarios are designed to check the correctness of the implemented calculation routines. The scenarios were tested by different approaches to ensure a comparability of the results. Thereby, the alternative approach considers the ultimate limit state. With this assumption, and because of the iterative nature of the algorithm, problems of convergence are more likely to occur and so potential causes can be detected. This explains the importance of the validation step, because bugs shall be eliminated prior to launching of the module.
Report in the yearbook 2013
Transfer into Practice
Subproject synergies of the project partners
Textile reinforced concrete (TRC) has been much discussed in recent times. Now the question is, when can the knowledge from the Collaborative Research Centre 528 be assumed to have been successfully transferred into practice? The cooperation with an established, mid-market company should provide a large step forward on the path into the offices of engineers. The company mb AEC Software GmbH, headquartered in Kaiserslautern, develops modularized dimensioning software. A modularized approach offers the advantage that the software can be conveniently extended, i.e. a dimensioning algorithm for textile reinforcements can be implemented relatively easily.
The project aims at a knowledge transfer to assist the industrial partner in the programming of specific modules. Based on this, the number of retrofitting layers for several, decisive load cases, like loadings from moments, shear, normal or torsional forces should be possible to estimate, i.e. the dimensioning process is automatically calculated. Furthermore, an existing database for materials has to be extended and constantly kept updated with the crucial characteristics of TRC. In this context, the Institute of Concrete Structures takes on an advisory function. Conveying the basics of carrying mechanisms in a plausible and vivid manner to the user is another goal of the cooperation. A user-friendly help system should be tailored to the demands of civil engineers. It should demonstrate the particular properties and application possibilities as well as the boundaries.
After the theoretical models have been transferred into an algorithm, the phase of validation can begin. Our institute should carry out a sensitivity analysis which should help to determine the influence of changes in the input variables on the output variables. Using experimental data, which were collected over the period of SFB 528, the finished software module can be fed with hundreds of varying data sets. The goals of these simulations are the identification of the crucial input variables so that, subsequently, more attention can be paid to them in further investigations. This will benefit the more effective utilization of the materials and, thus, helps to optimize the dimensioning process with regard to economic and technological aspects.