Safety formats for non-linear finite element analyses of reinforced concrete beams loaded to shear failure

Sammanfattning: There exists several different methods that can be used to implement a level of safety when performing non-linear finite element analysis of a structure. These methods are called safety formats and they estimate safety by different means and formulas which are partly discussed further in this thesis. The aim of this master thesis is to evaluate a model uncertainty factor for one safety format method called the estimation of coefficient of variation method (ECOV) since it is suggested to be included in the next version of Eurocode. The ECOV method will also be compared with the most common and widely used safety format which is the partial factor method (PF). The first part of this thesis presents the different safety formats more thoroughly followed by a theoretical part. The theory part aims to provide a deeper knowledge for the finite element method and non-linear finite element analysis together with some beam theory that explains shear mechanism in different beam types. The study was conducted on six beams in total, three deep beams and three slender beams. The deep beams were previously tested in the 1970s and the slender beams were previously tested in the 1990s, both test series were performed in a laboratory. All beams failed due to shear in the experimental tests. A detailed description of the beams are presented in the thesis. The simulations of the beams were all performed in the FEM- programme ATENA 2D to obtain high resemblance to the experimental test. In the results from the simulations it could be observed that the ECOV method generally got a higher capacity than the PF method. For the slender beams both methods received rather high design capacities with a mean of about 82% of the experimental capacity. For the deep beams both method reached low design capacities with a mean of around 46% of the experimental capacity. The results regarding the model uncertainty factor showed that the mean value for slender beams should be around 1.06 and for deep beams it should be around 1.25.