Finite Element Modelling of Bamboo Reinforced Concrete Beams

Abstract

In the traditional sense, steel has mainly been used as the reinforcement for structural
elements. Nonetheless, concerns over its cost and availability have been raised especially in
developing countries such as Ghana. Although bamboo has been employed as a construction
material in several developing countries, its use has been limited due to the uncertainties
associated with its properties and behaviour. In this paper, the laboratory results of two
different Self-Compacting Concrete beams with beam IDs; SM1.4 BI and SM1.4 BII having
varying shear span-to-depth ratios and percentage reinforcements were verified with a
nonlinear finite computational platform (ABAQUS). The 2m long beams were modelled with
each type of beam dimension reinforced with 1.2% and 1.5% amount of longitudinal bamboo
reinforcement. The load-deflection behaviours of the models were the main benchmarks for
the verification. The failure loads for the models placed the accuracies at 93.52% and
104.69% whilst the ultimate central deflections were 94.26%. and 102.37%. In conclusion,
the finite element models were found to be slightly stiffer than the experimental beams during
the initial stages of loading. Nevertheless, the entire load-deformation response of the model
produced, compares well with the response from the experimental study. This gives
confidence in the use of the ABAQUS software and the model developed.